2016 Wharton DC Innovation Summit

Raise your Innovation I.Q. April 26 - 27 2016.

About the Summit

Are you eager to hear from singular experts about the critical innovations and key leaders in DC and across the globe? We have a place for you. You'll learn on the spot, and go back to work refreshed and motivated to apply what you've learned.

If your team wants to sift the wheat from the chaff visible in fast-growing innovative outfits (industry, tech, government and the agile smaller businesses), we can help. Our thought-leader keynotes and many workshops offer you a solid decision path.

Join us to hear Chris Surdak on Big Data, Susan Dentzer (NEHI) on healthcare's tough new issues, Google's Gopi Kallayil on new venture lessons learned. “Lunch and learn” with two innovation legends: Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, co-inventors of the key internet protocol and critical to its growth globally. You'll learn in crucial sessions about starting up, funding, venture capital deals and much more.

2016 Schedule

Keynote (Innovation by legacy firms does not have to be an oxymoron)Prof. Jerry Wind

Venue: Academy Hall

The latest in Jerry’s research: Identifying errors that were done in the past by (large) corporations in managing innovation with suggestions on remedies and how to avoid the pitfalls. These pieces of wisdom are also of great value to new corporations that may otherwise be the victims of the same errors.

A group of innovative and cutting-edge EdTech executives and investors in the formal and corporate education space take the stage to discuss the latest trends and thought leadership in education technology, and how this affects the future of learning, training, and employment. Topics to be covered include learning analytics, predictive analysis, personalized education, integration of technologies, and what this all means for educators and students alike.

The 100 year old US power grid has changed little – likewise, its regulations. Coal and carbon-laden fuels have climate implications and create unhealthy pollution (so Bill Gates is working to bring nuclear power to China). Energy costs reflect a second issue. We review the development and deployment of UrbanLabs, a distributed micro powerplant and communication hub for urban areas. The pilot (on view in Taipei), will be deployed in Liberty State Park, in the Statue of Liberty’s shadow. Another UrbanLab is proposed for South Bronx. Among our questions: How will power demand change? Which entrenched interest will respond, and how?

9:30am - 10:45am

The IP Factor: Patents Provide Proprietary Protection

Venue: Balcony D

You’ve just developed a piece of innovative technology -- now what? Copycats are waiting to reverse-engineer your idea and turn it into their profits. The good news: There are tools to protect your IP (Intellectual Property) and ensure that your R & D and creativity further your business goals. Key to IP is the patent, allowing you to protect your technological inventions to restrict competitors’ ability to use patented technology by licensing the technology (or suing them if they infringe). Laura Chung and Jonathan Schlaifer, two experienced patent prosecutors, explain the process for getting patents and using patent portfolios as valuable business tools. Included in this session: Discussion of new developments in patent law and policy which impact how patents are obtained and applied. Plus: A review of strategies they’ve developed and applied successfully to serve clients seeking patents in light of the new developments.

Sustainable, responsible and impact investing (SRI) assets in the US grew 76% between 2012 and 2014, according to a survey by US SIF. Assets managed by investment firms considering environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues increased more than three-fold. US institutional investors, including pension funds, expanded SRI assets by 77%, and assets held by private equity and other alternative investment funds considering ESG factors rose 70%. This panel discussion will explore the motivations for SRI investing, new research on financial returns and long-term impact in private equity, and the future state of the field, from capital innovations in new issue areas and geographies to the next generation of metrics and measurement.

10:45am - 11:00am

Break + Networking

Venue: Academy Hall

11:00am - 12:15pm

With New Data Integration, How Close is ‘Interoperability’?Chris Surdak; Radhesh Nair

Mobility is under a massive transformation, and with it will be a massive transformation of the urban landscape. Uber valued at $62 billion; Google’s driverless cars imminent; Apple is rumoured to be developing the iCar… Using Hoboken as the case study, the panel will explore where cities will be in the near future.

Pre-questions

How is the demand equation changing (quantitatively and qualitatively)?

Who are the entrenched interests?

What is needed to deploy the autonomous car?

11:00am - 12:15pm

Creating Your Blue Ocean Strategy ToolsW. Douglas Wendt

Venue: Balcony D

Learn how the globally recognized Blue Ocean breakthrough strategy process can guide your team to develop new, uncontested markets and create new customers as you make the competition irrelevant. The session will include individual exercises that help you apply Blue Ocean Strategy to your own organization, and empower you to leave with new tools and insights you can apply today.

What are the “formulas” for national innovation? While people’s needs and resources may seem similar across the globe, a northern European country will address needs differently from an Asian nation. This creates a different pace of innovation – from identifying needs, to addressing and satisfying them with new types of innovations – in each country. And that pace is always changing. Wharton Professor David Reibstein will share his advanced research on how innovation “looks” in different countries -- and the marketing edge it offers in each case. We then review case studies from Sweden, the World Bank and the Middle East.

12:15pm - 1:15pm

KeynotesGopi Kallayil; Chris Surdak

Venue: Academy Hall

Ever wonder what makes the Google the holy grail of productivity and creativity?

Destination 2020: Changes, Opportunities and Challenges in the Next Four Years

1:15pm - 2:30pm

What Lessons Have Wharton Entrepreneurs Learned from Their Journeys?

Venue: Academy Hall

The Wharton School’s comprehensive and distinguished program produces outstanding alumni each year. Featured on this panel: 3 alumni with unique, thriving entrepreneurial ventures. While each serves in other roles, one alum has shifted from ebusiness (McKinsey) consulting to launching an ecommerce trust company offering guaranteed shopping programs. A second co-founded a cloud-based software analytics company and (earlier) led a company thru an IPO and next-level funding of $180MM. The third has helped grow one company with assets of $20 million to over $2 billion. Each will reflect on the journeys that led to their successes.

Connectivity represents a city’s nervous system. It’s critical to transportation and energy innovation. Example: Smartphone “architecture” enabled the evolution of bike share from smart-dock (Cabi) to smart-bikes (Hoboken). Connectivity is also critical to successful roll-out of driverless cars and energy-efficient buildings. We review New York’s new LinkNYC -- being deployed by Google’s Sidewalk Labs (NYC) and globally the fastest municipal Wi-Fi system (no cost to taxpayers). Also in NYC, unused payphone booths are being replaced by high-powered kiosks; some 7,500 will be deployed citywide. How will LinkNYC impact phone companies? What are the entrepreneurial opportunities with self-driving cars, deliveries, bike share?

LEADING EDGE HEALTHCARE: WHICH ARE THE GROWING ”GREEN SHOOTS”? America’s greatest strength is its world-leading medical research. New treatments are coming out of laboratories and R&D pipelines that promise great value. We review new treatment research by U of Penn Medical School’s leading lights – targeting big medical challenges and creating successful research to support them.

1:15pm - 2:30pm

Innovations in Government Acquisition

Venue: Balcony E

Innovations in Government Technology and Services Acquisitions - Gain insight from senior government procurement professionals about next generation procurement, acquisition and contracting models, the drivers behind agile acquisition, and how you can compete in these new acquisitions.

What is category management and how will it help me?

What innovative acquisition strategies is the government adopting? Show-don’t-tell procurements, buyers’ clubs, contracts with shorter periods of performance?

How does acquisition need to change to accommodate digital innovations like cloud, agile development and mobile?

How do small companies get their ideas heard?

How are we preparing the next generation of acquisition professionals and contracting officers on the changes in the federal technology market?

2:30pm - 2:45pm

Break + Networking

Venue: Academy Hall

2:45pm - 4:00pm

The Changing Role of the CIODavid Shive; Joyce Hunter; Rich McKinney; Tony Scott

Venue: Academy Hall

During the next two years the primary role of the Chief Information Officer will change from directly managing IT to becoming strategic Innovation partners. Come listen to CIOs in the government share their perspectives and innovation journeys leading their respective organizations to:

Ensure that everything IT does is positioned to support business value

Focus on information intelligence and innovation

Share how their new role includes management of innovation, information intelligence, customer experience and digital business presence

We know that US healthcare is the industry hardest hit by cyber attacks weekly (and this includes a raft of new ransomware attacks in DC). Our experts look at big picture of cybersecurity risk planning, cover the latest guidance and focus deeply on key executive challenges of protecting operations and health records -- plus review the must-know tools for executives and managers.

Join Shaun Abrahamson on a riveting review of the role start-ups are having on the design of cities. This panel will include participants in earlier urban panels. Specific participants may include Bambikes, Lock8, Split, UrbanLabs, Connecthings and Sizung.

The Internet will become ubiquitous as all sorts of appliances and machines will have their own connection with the Internet. The news that even the humble toaster will have its own webpage would make obvious that communication with many items that constitute our environment in everyday life will become possible. This will obviously allow greater control and coordination of these items, not only for each one of us but also for larger communities. Sandra Baer will tell us how these new technological developments would benefit such communities, including entire cities. But an abundance of communications entails problems of cyber security which, itself as an issue, has to face the concordant problem of personal privacy. Chris Calabrese will enlighten us on the practical developments regarding these issues today.

4:00pm - 4:15pm

Break + Networking

Venue: Academy Hall

4:15pm - 5:30pm

Angel Investment Panel and Company Pitches – The Truth About Angels: How to Find Them, What They Want, and How To Be Successful With ThemS. Tien Wong (Moderator); Fred Gumbinner; Jiemin Jordan; Joe Kessler; John May

Venue: Academy Hall

Panel discussion with some of the region's leading angels. Learn who they are, how to find them, what they are looking for, "do's and don'ts" when pitching and negotiating, structuring the deal, and how to leverage them. Panel will be followed by a "rocket pitch" session by some of the most innovative early stage companies in the region. Presenting Companies will be announced on April 15.

4:15pm - 5:30pm

Administration Transition: What the Incoming Leaders Should Know

Venue: Vista Room

The 2016 Wharton DC Innovation Summit is proud to partner with Jivango, the Partnership for Public Service, ACT-IAC, MeriTalk and American University to engage in a collaborative effort to provide feedback for the next Presidential Administration. These thought leaders are working to submit recommendations on areas of policy, technology and innovation that the next administration should focus on to ensure the momentum of efforts to date continues to grow and improve.
Each of these organizations welcomes input from YOU and has posted their topic areas. The open comment period is through April 22nd and after submissions have been made, the organizations will present their findings at the Wharton DC Innovation Summit to be held on April 26-27th at the FHI360 Conference Center in Washington DC. Register at whartondcinnovation.com to have an opportunity to attend and listen to the feedback.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to contribute! We look forward to hearing your thoughts to help us all engage, educate and enlighten us with your feedback, ideas, and recommendations!

The Wharton DC Innovation Summit, Jivango, Partnership for Public Service, ACT-IAC, MeriTalk and American University

4:15pm - 5:45pm

Innovation from Within: Harnessing Your Mind's Potential to Transform How you Lead, Learn and Live

Venue: Balcony D

An innovator's mindset drives how he or she sparks creativity, leads disruption, and creates the future. In this session, learn how you can master your mind to unlock your innovative potential, enhance your health and well-being, and transform how you lead, learn and live.

Amita Shukla, an innovator, entrepreneur and the author of Enduring Edge: Transforming How We Think, Create and Change, will present a powerful new framework on the mind that offers attendees practical tools for unlocking the potential of their own minds.

Neeraj Bhushan, MD and Jisele Alter, RN of Benchmark Health Systems will share how they are blazing a new trail in proactive health management through a primary focus on education and prevention of chronic medical diseases to create "healthy solutions for life."

Join this dynamic, interactive session to learn how to be at the top of your innovation game in mind, body, and being. Attendees will receive a complimentary copy of Amita Shukla's book.

Drones, UAVs and Your Business Model -- Can They Co-Exist? From the White House lawn to the battlefield to your backyard, drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are changing the world around us. People are now asking how UAVs will affect their lives and their businesses. Technology is changing the world faster than world leaders and governments can align policies, governance, and the rule of law to these new technologies. UAVs and other robotic technologies offer an excellent example of this challenge. Planned change keeps you in control; forced changed moves you closer to obsolescence. Come interact with a panel of UAV industry and policy experts to discuss how this technology will change your life and your business. Learn now what information you will need in order to align with these changes and profit from them today and into the future.

5:30pm - 5:45pm

Break + Networking

Venue: Academy Hall

5:45pm - 6:15pm

KeynoteSusan Dentzer

Venue: Academy Hall

THE FORCE AWAKENS: Innovations in Advancing Health and Health Care

6:15pm - 6:30pm

Closing Notes

Venue: Academy Hall

6:30pm - 8:30pm

Reception

Venue: British Embassy

April 27, 2016

8:00am - 8:30am

Breakfast + Networking

Venue: Academy Hall

8:30am - 8:45am

Welcome and Introduction

Venue: Academy Hall

8:45am - 9:15am

Keynote (Startups Will Redesign Cities)Shaun Abrahamson

Venue: Academy Hall

Cities are humanity’s greatest creation. They’re unparalleled sources of opportunity and creativity. Today, there are more people living in cities than at any other time in human history.

But city life has come at a cost. Cities account for approximately 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. With urban populations set to double by 2050, we’ll have to re-imagine cities if we’re to continue to grow opportunities and also limit and adapt to climate change.

To address these challenges humanity needs to radically re-imagine cities. This is happening: from bike share and other approaches to urban mobility, a wide array of new ways to connect, and with virtually every other aspect of urban infrastructure, startups innovating at a blistering pace. But even more is needed.

Panel discussion with leading venture capital investors regarding the latest trends in early-stage financing and the VC industry, including the Series A "gap," deal terms, hot investment ideas, accessing VC, and how best to source and negotiate with VCs in this market. Panel will be followed by a "rocket pitch" session by some of the most innovative early stage companies in the region. Presenting Companies will be announced on April 15.

9:30am - 10:45am

Why Bolstering Our Nation’s Infrastructure Will Drive Innovation

Venue: Vista Room

Across the US there is a need for a new wave of investment in infrastructure—a critical element of our nation’s prosperity, ability to innovate and capitalize on innovation.

Estimated needs in the U.S. and abroad are in the trillions of dollars for vital infrastructure—from buildings to water, sewer, communications and energy systems, to roads, bridges, rail lines, airports and ports to serve all modes of transportation.

This discussion will cover what needs to be done today and in the near future, and what innovations cities and nations around the world are implementing to strengthen their infrastructure.

"Space is Big," as was proclaimed by the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. As of 2016, the dynamics in space investing could indeed be more accurately described as epic! The amount of venture capital invested between 2000-2005 has grown by more than an unprecedented 10X from 2011-2015. Between 2000 and 2015 only 80 angel- and venture-backed startups have received capital and 8 exits have occurred at a total value of $2.2B. In 2015, more than 50 VCs invested in 22 firms at a total of $1.8B.

This panel will discuss the changing landscape of space investing, the changing anatomy of the space startup as well as disruptive commercialization and investment models that are starting to take root in the space industry. We will also discuss what the future looks like in space commercialization….for example, when will Rhiana go to space in the Virgin Galactic spaceship on which she put a 500K pound deposit .

While space travel appears somewhat of a fairy-tale at present, in the words of John F. Kennedy, May 1961, SPACE IS OPEN TO US….and …IT IS NOT MERELY A RACE!

Alternative solutions that pinpoint, forecast, and mitigate the impacts of social risk on public and private sector initiatives

Methods to re-conceptualize how populations, political systems, and industry intersect

Current solutions and future challenges to mitigate the negative impacts of social risk (e.g., protests, strikes, litigation, and violence)

Communications technologies empower people, accelerate changes in perceptions, and increase competition for limited resources. Organizations responsible for providing services cannot keep pace and are ill-equipped to address rapidly evolving beliefs, social tensions, and basic needs. Traditional methods, corporate social responsibility, and development models struggle to forecast and mitigate challenges emanating from populations. Many practitioners have turned to big data solutions to solve complex social challenges. This has added a layer of complexity where access to unlimited data leads to indecision. A paradigm shift is required to empower decision-makers to optimize their initiatives.

Innovation is not a nicely developing process. Indeed, it often jumps brutally between from one paradigm to another. Nanotechnology is a new paradigm from which many other fields of knowledge are reassessed bringing with it new understandings about these fields and new opportunities. Dr. Mark Allen, Director of the Singh Center for Nanotechnology at Penn and his team are therefore taking a new look at electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry and materials science at the very small level of the observation. John Whitman at the Wharton MBA HealthCare Management Program will instruct us of the many new issues and developments in the fast changing world of Health Care and how Wharton directs its efforts to achieve successes in this world. Michael Poisel, Director of Penn Center for Innovation Ventures at Penn builds programs to accelerate the commercialization of Penn technology through entrepreneurial ventures.

11:00am - 12:15pm

Brand-Driven Leadership – Your RoadmapW. Douglas Wendt

Venue: Vista Room

Brand-Driven Leadership is a proven methodology that enables CEOs and executive leaders to align their businesses to succeed in a challenging marketplace. In this informative workshop, you’ll learn about the five marketplace challenges, then explore the three core components that comprise your brand. You will also learn which elements of your brand you can control, and which ones you can’t. Plus: Participants will receive a free copy of Brand-Driven Leadership: Ten Essential Strategies for Business Growth.

MOBILE HEALTH WINNING PATHS: AMONG the MANY WHYs and HOWs of mobile health “winning” tools, which are the success paths? Many wearables, we know, tend to morph into "unwearables" (thru side effects, drops in usage). Our experts look at the promising new ones (from Oculus to the “refreshed” Google Glass and more). All these are creating new tech-enabled communities and patients, and making healthcare far more pervasive everywhere.

Innovation does not discriminate by age. The perspective brought by young thinkers is often valuable for its freshness, for being independent from mainstream industry philosophy. As the doers of Generation Z mature into adulthood, they will be faced with challenges and opportunities unique to a globalized, digital world. In this panel we will hear from local high schoolers on their experiences in innovating and creating as youth.

Women innovators and entrepreneurs face the same challenges male counterparts face. However, women innovators face additional challenges, including a lack of visibility and access to support networks, and sometimes cultural acceptance. There are great examples of women who are leading successful enterprises or blazing the trail with new ventures. As a result, the entrepreneurial playing field is continuing to expand. As women innovators inspire other women innovators, this panel presents four exceptional examples of women innovators who will speak about their journeys, provide their perspectives on leadership and innovation, and share their views on culture, community and resources.

This panel discusses the latest developments in crowdfunding including Regulation A+ which significantly improves the prospects and process for equity crowdfunding. It will also provide an overview of the new "equity crowdfunding" law, Title III of the JOBS Act, that goes into effect on May 16, 2016 which will allow start-ups to raise up to $1 million online by selling stock in a private company through a "funding portal" and discusses efforts to develop those funding portals and the supporting infrastructure required for equity crowdfunding. More details about utilizing Regulation A+ and equity crowdfunding will be provided in the accompanying, supplementary workshop: Can the SEC's New Reg A+ Boost Your Startup Funding? Panelists include Kendall Almerico, an attorney and expert in Crowdfunding who was named in 2014 by VentureBeat to be the 17th "Most influential Leader in the Crowdfunding Industry" and other leading lights.

1:15pm - 2:30pm

Spirited Innovation from Raven Beer

Venue: Balcony D

Join RavenBeer founder Stephen Demczuk (Ph.D Biochemistry/Molecular Biology) for insight into the fast-growing (and competitive) craft beer industry. Follow the product and branding development from its origins in Germany to the building of a brewery in Baltimore, including current expansion plans involving merchandising and overseas exporting. During this session you can enjoy a guided tasting of various styles of beer from the literary themed Edgar Allan Poe brands (must be 21 or older for the tasting).

The Washington DC Metropolitan area is positioning itself as a hub for start-ups and innovation. Featuring strengths in the B2B arena, such as software, government, politics, cyber security and enterprise, as well as industries like healthcare, finance and education, the DC area continues to shape its identity as a vital growth engine for innovation. This panel will feature three great examples of incubators and accelerators in the region as they share their perspectives and success stories from their journeys.

2:45pm - 4:00pm

Reducing Your Risk – Improving Your Enterprise Security Value Chain

Venue: Vista Room

It takes a village to protect a village…

Although cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities capture headlines and conversations nearly every day, we are still trying to tackle the challenge with mainly point solutions and siloed discussions. In true Wharton fashion, this novel panel of experts will broaden the discussion to embrace the true shared risks and responsibilities throughout the entire community.

With esteemed representatives from both industry and government and with solution providers both small and large, we will dive into the full scope of the threats – and of the potential solutions.

Moderator Robert Katz will interweave all attendees into the hyper-interactive discussion as he helps everyone navigate through his “six Ps of cyber”:

Problem

Perspective

Platforms

Proactivity

Partnerships

People

Real examples will span all major sectors, including finance, insurance, retail, transportation, and education, throughout industry, government, academic, and even the national laboratories.

Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the depth and breadth of the cyber threat. This will provide them all with a better understanding of their own roles in building a shared solution approach to protect their enterprises, and the critical infrastructures on which they rely.

This exciting panel will be Wharton Innovation Summit’s launch of an on-going inter-disciplinary, whole-of-community conversation focused on heightening the cyber security posture of the whole community.

HOW DO WE BALANCE BIOPHARMA’S INNOVATION, VALUE and PRICING? Pharmaceuticals and biotech now focus sharply on creating truly new value thru new drugs and novel forms of generics. But as this growing quest for value plays out, we see a new focus on patients and pricing. How are biopharma’s innovations balancing these key areas as they create new cures and life-extending drugs?

2:45pm - 4:00pm

Digital Gen Z + Y Millennial Integrated

Venue: Balcony E

4:00pm - 4:15pm

Break + Networking

Venue: Academy Hall

4:15pm - 5:30pm

Retooling Your Network for Innovative ResultsLee Dudka; Eric McGinley

Venue: Academy Hall

RETOOLING YOUR NETWORK for INNOVATIVE RESULTS
Networking – top executives tell us – is THE top business skill of our times, but it’s actually critical for solving project issues in innovation teams. How keen are your networking skills AND project know-how? This workshop helps you retool your network (your “social assets”) to tackle the tough work in innovation teams – those steps that demand sharp thinking to create new, beyond-the-box outcomes. We’ll use business research, 2 teams, time-tested guides and a key planning tool to help you drive more efficient outcomes -- and boost your project/personal prospects.

In today's global business environment it is important to stand out from the competition. Attracting today's top talent requires more than just attractive compensation and benefits packages. Today's workforce is looking for organizations that they can assimilate with. Developing a talent brand is the next evolution in building an organization of thought leaders and partners. Come listen to a panel of industry experts bringing a multi-dimensional perspective on developing your talent brand.

4:15pm - 5:30pm

Monetary Innovation - Show Me the Money!

Venue: Balcony D

Monetary Innovation is solving problems from Wall Street to the world’s unbanked. Three experts will discuss the solutions that cutting-edge digital currencies, nanotechnology manufacturing, and block chain tech offer. Everyone is affected but not everyone understands how.

For companies that need funding (and who doesn't?) the JOBS Act and crowdfunding seem like the magic answer to many capital raising problems. Are these new securities laws and SEC regulations right for your company? And if so, how can your company utilize these groundbreaking capital raising regulations safely, legally, effectively and affordably?

In this workshop, you will learn the nuts and bolts about Regulation A+ that allows companies to raise up to $50 million in a "Mini-IPO" online, with anyone (not just rich and well-connected folks) being allowed to invest. You will get a sneak preview of the new "equity crowdfunding" law, Title III of the JOBS Act, that goes into effect on May 16, 2016 and will allow start-ups to raise up to $1 million online through a "funding portal" that sells stock in your private company to the general public. You will also hear about "accredited investor crowdfunding" where your company can use online methods and marketing to raise money from wealthy investors through Section 506(c) - Title II of the JOBS Act.

This practical workshop will be hosted by Kendall Almerico, who Forbes called "one of the top JOBS Act and crowdfunding attorneys in the country." Kendall is not your typical lawyer. He is also a successful entrepreneur who knows how to make these laws work to raise money for your company. Kendall operates the JOBS Act funding platform BankRoll and practices law with the DC-area law firm DimuroGinsberg. Kendall will not only discuss the legal and financial aspects, but also the all-important marketing component of these laws that will make or break your company's online funding campaign.

5:30pm - 5:45pm

Break + Networking

Venue: Academy Hall

5:45pm - 6:15pm

Closing Keynote (Biotech Success Story)Dr. Bill Hearl

Venue: Academy Hall

How a creative business strategy and a novel funding approach can make a success story possible in biotech.

6:15pm - 6:30pm

Closing Notes

Venue: Academy Hall

6:30pm - 8:30pm

Closing Reception

Venue: Main Are

2016 Keynote Speakers

Dr. Jerry Wind

Professor, Wharton

Gopi Kallayil

Chief Evangelist Brand Marketing, Google

Christopher Surdak, JD

Technology Evangelist, Award-Winning Author

Vinton “Vint” Cerf

Vice President at Google and its Chief Internet Evangelist

Robert “Bob” Kahn

Chairman, CEO and President of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI)

Dr. William Hearl, PhD

Founder and CEO, Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc.

Susan Dentzer

President and Chief Executive Officer, The Network for Excellence in Health Innovation

Shaun Abrahamson

Founder, Urban.Us

Dr. Jerry WindProfessor, Wharton

Jerry (Yoram) Wind, Lauder Professor, Professor of Marketing, The Wharton School Director, SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management; Academic Director, The Wharton Fellows Program & The Future of Advertising Program Jerry (Yoram) Wind joined Wharton in 1967 with a doctorate from Stanford. He has edited top marketing journals, published over 250 articles and 20 books, and received the 4 major marketing awards: Buck Weaver, Charles Parlin, Converse, and AMA/Irwin Distinguished Educator Award. He was one of the original Legends in Marketing, with an 8-volume anthology published by Sage in 2014. He has consulted with over 100 companies, sits on various advisory boards, and testifies in intellectual property and antitrust cases. In 2015, he will be inducted into the inaugural cohort of the AMA Fellows Program. His current research explores marketing-driven business strategy, the Network Challenge; reinventing advertising; creativity and innovation; and challenging our mental models.

Gopi KallayilChief Evangelist Brand Marketing, Google

Gopi Kallayil is the Chief Evangelist, Brand Marketing at Google. He works with Google’s sales teams and customers and helps grow customer brands through digital marketing. In his prior roles he worked as Chief Evangelist for Google+, led the marketing team for the Company’s flagship advertising product, AdWords, in the Americas and Asia Pacific, and the marketing team for AdSense, Google’s publisher-facing product.

Before joining Google, Gopi was on the management team of two Silicon Valley venture funded startups. While a consultant with McKinsey & Co., he worked on engagements helping the management teams of large corporations improve business performance and maximize revenues. He has also led large Information Technology projects for global corporations in India, China, and the US.

Gopi earned his Bachelors degree in electronics engineering from the National Institute of Technology in India. He received his Masters in Business Administration degrees from the Indian Institute of Management and The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He is an avid yoga practitioner, triathlete, public speaker, global traveler and Burning Man devotee. He has spoken at TEDx, Renaissance Weekend, The World Peace Festival and Wisdom 2.0. He hosts a TV program on cable and YouTube called Change Makers.

Christopher Surdak, JDTechnology Evangelist, Award-Winning Author

Christopher Surdak is an industry-recognized expert in Mobility Social Media and Analytics, Big Data, Information Security, Regulatory Compliance, and Cloud Computing with over 20 years of professional experience.

Mr. Surdak has held similar roles with other leading companies such as Accenture, Siemens, Dell and Citibank. Mr. Surdak began his career with Lockheed Martin Astrospace, where he was a spacecraft systems engineer and rocket scientist.

Mr. Surdak holds a Juris Doctor from Taft University, an Executive Masters In Technology Management and a Moore Fellowship from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s Certificate in Information Security from Villanova University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

Mr. Surdak is author of “Data Crush: How the Information Tidal Wave is Driving New Business Opportunities”, published by AMACOM Publishing, recipient of GetAbstract’s International Book of the Year Award, 2014.

He is contributing author to the book “Big Data Combat,” a 2016 best-seller in China.

He is recipient of the Information Governance Initiative’s Evangelist of the Year for 2015.

He is recipient of the WhartonDC Benjamin Franklin Innovator of the Year Award for 2015.

Mr. Surdak is Honoured Consultant to the FutureTrek Community of Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

He is also contributing editor and columnist for European Business Review, European Financial Review, China Business Review and HP Matter magazines.

Mr. Surdak provides talks, guidance and advice to global leaders on a range of technology, policy and business topics, including over 300 public speaking engagements in the last 3 years.

Vinton “Vint” CerfVice President at Google and its Chief Internet Evangelist

Vinton "Vint" Cerf is Vice President at Google and its Chief Internet Evangelist since 2005. He is responsible for identifying new enabling technologies that support the development of Google's advanced internet-based products and services.

Known as one of the "Fathers of the Internet" (with Bob Kahn), Cerf is co-inventor of the internet’s architecture and basic protocols. President Clinton presented the U.S. National Medal of Technology to Cerf (and colleague Robert E. Kahn) for founding and developing the Internet. Kahn and Cerf are recipients of the ACM Alan M.Turing Award (2004), often called the "Nobel Prize of Computer Science."

President George Bush awarded Cerf (and colleague Bob Kahn) the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Cerf and Kahn also received the prestigious Japan Prize. Cerf was chairman of the board of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and founding president of the Internet Society. Cerf is honorary chairman of the IPv6 Forum, which helps speed the introduction of the new Internet protocol.

Vint Cerf has received many awards (selected list): Marconi Fellowship, the Charles Stark Draper award of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Medal of Science (Tunisia). He is a Fellow of the IEEE and past president of the ACM, and American Association for the Advancement of Science, plus the Computer History Museum, the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering, the American Philosophical Society, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is now also a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society. (Earlier, People magazine named Cerf one year among its "25 Most Intriguing People.")

Cerf holds a B. S. in Mathematics (Stanford), M. S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science (UCLA). He holds 20 honorary degrees, and with Bob Kahn, received the Queen Elizabeth II Prize in Engineering (the "Engineering Nobel").

Robert “Bob” KahnChairman, CEO and President of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI)

Bob Kahn is Chairman, CEO and President of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), which he founded (1986) after a 13-year term at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). CNRI is a not-for-profit that provides leadership and funding for research and development of the National Information Infrastructure.

Bob Kahn has M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton, and a BSEE-City University. After work at Bell Laboratories he served as Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT, then moved to join Bolt Beranek and Newman, where he was responsible for the system design of the Arpanet, the first packet-switched network. At DARPA as Director of DARPA's Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO), he launched the US government's billion dollar Strategic Computing Program, the largest computer R&D program ever undertaken by the federal government. He conceived the idea of open-architecture networking.

With Vint Cerf, he is co-inventor of the TCP/IP protocols and responsible for originating DARPA's Internet Program, coining the phrase "National Information Infrastructure" (NII). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of key societies (IEEE, AAAI, ACM). He was a member of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee, and the President's Advisory Council on National Information Infrastructure.

He holds many awards (selected list): the Marconi Award, the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal, the IEEE Third Millennium Medal, the Computerworld/Smithsonian Award. He twice received the Secretary of Defense Civilian Service Award, and the National Medal of Technology, the 2001 Charles Stark Draper Prize (National Academy of Engineering), the Prince of Asturias Award, and the 2004 A. M. Turing Award (a.k.a. the "Computer Science Nobel").

He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George Bush, and the C & C Prize in Tokyo. An inductee at the National Inventors Hall of Fame, he was also given the Japan Prize (with Vint Cerf). He holds the University of Pennsylvania’s Harold Pender Award plus 11 honorary degrees. In 2013, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn were the first recipients of the Queen Elizabeth II Prize for Engineering, considered the de facto "Engineering Nobel."

Dr. William Hearl, PhDFounder and CEO, Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc.

Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI) is an experienced and successful life science businessman and entrepreneur. Dr. Hearl is adept at brokering mutually beneficial partnerships and identifying non-traditional collaborations and investment opportunities.

The advent of LAMP technology came from Dr. Hearl’s work with Dr. Tom August of Capital Genomix, Inc. and Johns Hopkins University. From that collaboration, ITI began operations in 2006. Dr. Hearl’s extensive experience in intellectual property management and business development led to the rewarding sub-license of the LAMP technology to Geron Corporation within 30 days of initiating operations.

Dr. Hearl is also founder of Capital Genomix, Inc. (CGI), a Maryland-based biomarker and drug discovery company, having served as its first chief executive officer from inception in 2000 to late 2002 when he assumed the role of chief scientific officer. Dr. Hearl raised seed funds and series A & B funding for CGI (~$5million in cash/debt). He also acquired the Dynex Technologies division of Thermo Scientific in a leveraged acquisition deal. Dynex was subsequently divested and yielded a remarkable 10-fold return to the company.

Dr. Hearl is also responsible for the acquisition and development of the core technologies of Capital Genomix: GeneSystem320™ was licensed exclusively from MD Anderson Cancer Center and the ImmunoMouse™ was invented by Dr. Hearl. Dr. Hearl also has an established record of scientific productivity over his 20 years of work in the biotech industry. He started his career as a bench scientist at Electro-Nucleonics, Inc. and developed blood based diagnostics for HIV, HTLV-I and Hepatitis C. He later worked at Life Technologies Corporation (now part of Invitrogen) and directed the immunodetection group. Under Dr. Hearl’s direction, the lab developed a number of innovative antibody-based detection kits and reagents. He moved into scientific management when he became the director of research and development at Kirkegaard & Perry Laboratories, Inc. in 1994.

Dr. Hearl earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Tennessee and B.S. from East Tennessee State University.

Susan DentzerPresident and Chief Executive Officer, The Network for Excellence in Health Innovation

Susan Dentzer -- President and Chief Executive Officer, The Network for Excellence in Health Innovation -- a nonprofit, non-partisan health policy institute focused on enabling innovations that improve health, boost health care quality and lower costs. She is a leading national expert in health care and health policy, and is one of America’s most respected health care thought leaders.

Previously, she was Senior Adviser -- the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest philanthropy focused on US health and health care. She is an on-air analyst on health issues with the PBS NewsHour and regular commentator on health policy for National Public Radio, Al Jazeera America and other TV and radio networks.

Dentzer served from 2008-2013 as the editor-in-chief of Health Affairs, the nation’s leading journal of health policy. She also previously led the NewsHour’s health unit, reporting extensively on-air about health care reform debates.

Dentzer is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the IOM’s Board on Population Health. She is also an elected member of the Council on Foreign Relations; a fellow of the National Academy of Social Insurance; and a fellow of the Hastings Center, a nonpartisan bioethics research institute. She graduated from Dartmouth, is a trustee emerita of the college, and chaired the Dartmouth Board of Trustees from 2001 to 2004. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Overseers of Dartmouth Medical School and is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Rescue Committee, a leading humanitarian organization.

Dentzer is also on the board of directors of Research!America, an alliance working to make research to improve health a higher priority; is a public member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Medical Specialties, which assists 24 medical specialty boards in the ongoing evaluation and certification of physicians; and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Health Institute, the nonprofit organization addressing public health issues and solutions nationwide. She is also a member of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, the RAND Health Board of Advisors, the March of Dimes national advisory board and the national advisory committee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows.

Dentzer holds an honorary master's degree from Dartmouth and an honorary doctorate in human letters from Muskingum University. She, her husband and their three children live in the Washington, DC aree.

Shaun AbrahamsonFounder, Urban.Us

Shaun is a member of the investment committee, and he leads investment selection and communications with portfolio companies, members of the Network, and limited partners in Fund II. Before founding Fund I, Shaun was an active angel investor, investing in more than 20 firms between 2007 and 2013 in his personal capacity. Early-stage investing and advising is informed by his experiences building MediaSentry (acquired by SafeNet in 2005), Starmedia Network (acquired by France Telecom) and Oculus Technologies (MIT CADLab spin-out). In 1999, he was an early employee at govWorks, one of the earliest startups focused on serving local government. govWorks was ahead of the market and failed during the dot com bust, becoming the subject of the documentary Startup.com in 2001. Shaun has written for organizations such as The Economist Intelligence Unit, The Huffington Post, and CNNMoney. Crowdstorm, published by Wiley, was his first book and is a guide to working with large online crowds to find and evaluate ideas. The book is a based on Shaun’s experience working with Starbucks, Omnicom Group, $300 House, and Life Edited. Shaun has an MSc from MIT; an MBA from the Berlin School of Creative Leadership; and a BSc from the University of Cape Town. He is papai to his children, Max and Oli, and the number-one fan of his partner, artist Andrea Nhuch. When he is not at work or with his family, you will most likely find him swimming, Onewheeling, or voiding a warranty.

Steve O’Keeffe

Brittany Heyd

Robert Katz

Lesley Field

Deputy Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy

Peter Marquez

Vice President, Global Engagement, Planetary Resources

George ChurchwellCo-Founder and President, Tech 2000, Inc.

George is the President of Tech 2000, Inc., a leading education solutions and mobile content management company. George is responsible for driving Tech 2000’s product development, long-term strategy and vision.

With 30 years of experience in the networking industry, George has interacted with a wide variety of network communications technologies with real-world experience in systems integration, security, and web presence. His focus has been on improving training for the broadband service provider workforce, particularly through the use of dynamic e-learning and mobile techniques. George’s specialties include, MEF- Carrier Ethernet Certified Profession (MEF-CECP), Cisco Certified Systems Instructor (CCSI) for Cisco’s ARK9K, CRS3, and XRFund, products and technologies.

Ali QureshiVice President, Xcelerate Solutions

As Xcelerate’s Vice President of Consulting Services, Ali Qureshi is responsible for the organization, development, and management of Xcelerate’s greatest assets, our delivery personnel. Ali brings nearly two decades of experience assisting Federal Government and commercial clients in meeting their technology services needs through innovative solutions.

Prior to joining Xcelerate, Ali held leadership positions in a number of healthcare technology companies serving Federal, private, and international customers. Ali also served eight years in the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer for the U.S. House of Representatives. As the Senior Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, he managed House operations and maintained direct oversight of House Information Resources, Administrative and Financial Services, Strategic Initiatives and Assets, and Furnishings and Logistics, overseeing a staff of more than 1,800. Ali also served as the House’s Director of Advanced Business Solutions with oversight of all financial, business support, and web applications.

Prior to joining the Federal Government, Ali had a successful consulting career supporting projects that focused on environmental policy, telecommunications, strategic sourcing, and healthcare with Booz Allen Hamilton and Accenture.
Ali holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from Wilkes University and an Executive Master’s Degree from the Wharton School and School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the Wharton DC Club’s Vice President for Programs and the Program Chair for the Annual Wharton DC Innovation Summit. The Innovation Summit is a premier regional event that aggregates innovation thought leaders, practitioners, funding institutions, and policy advisors from the private, public, academic and non-profit sector.

Dr. Djordjija PetkovskiLecturer and Senior Fellow at Wharton

Dr. Petkoski is a Lecturer and Senior Fellow at Wharton and the founder of Global CDL. He serves as an advisor and consultant to the World Bank, the OAS, ILO, national governments, and other institutions. During his 20 year tenure at the World Bank, Petkoski held various senior positions, including head of the Business, Competitiveness and Development Program. At Wharton, he teaches courses on responsibility in global management, corporate responsibility and ethics in the MBA and undergraduate program, and has thought at several Executive Development Programs at Wharton and Harvard Business School.

Dr. Petkoski work focuses on innovative models for financing for development; financial inclusion; business and development issues and competitiveness; sustainable development at the national and corporate level; multi-stakeholder engagement and coalition building, CSR/CSV, business ethics, and business lead collective action against corruption. Most recently, he is taking a leadership role in defining the business case for and innovative ways of financing the Sustainable Development Goals. While at the World Bank, he managed over 340 global projects. He is the author or co-author of 15 books and over 180 articles and reports and has engaged with over 100 MNCs with consulting experience across a broader range of industries.

Dr. Petkoski was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University in the early 1990's and a Visiting Scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979-80. In addition to two Ph.D. (one in Economics and one in Electrical Engineering), he has a MPA from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Dr. Andreas Larsson is Science and Innovation Counselor, Head of the Office of Science and Innovation at the Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C. He is thematic leader for innovation, IT and industrial dynamics at Swedish Agency for Growth Policy Analysis and associated researcher at Uppsala University focusing on innovation policy. He has been visiting researcher and visiting scholar at Stanford University, Center for Design Research, member of the OECD Steel Committee, iron ore analyst at LKAB, management consultant at Accenture and program manager at Swedish research funding agency VINNOVA. Andreas has a BSc in Social Science and Business Administration, a M.Sc in Industrial Management and Engineering and a PhD in Industrial Organization, all awarded by Luleå University of Technology, Sweden.

John Whitman, Wharton MBA Health Care Management Program graduate (aging and long-term care focus), has spent 30 years improving care for seniors, one of the nation’s most vulnerable resources. He developed a national consulting company targeting care of the elderly in all settings and the care continuum to assure top-level, cost-effective care. John’s work is on the flow of senior patient care from hospital, to post-acute and long term care and back into the community.

He’s worked with hundreds of hospitals and health care systems in developing key post-acute strategies, implementing in-demand programs, coordinating and refining existing programs and services and providing better care quality for seniors in viable and sustainable ways for hospitals and health care systems. He is a faculty member at The Wharton School’s MBA Health and Management Program (19 years) and on the Dean’s Advisory Board at Drexel University’s School of Public Health.

As founder-executive director of the (non-profit) TRECS Institute, he created a catalyst to bring about positive changes in the care of US seniors. TRECS completed a long overdue study on the dentistry quality available for our nation’s 1.6 million nursing facility residents and found it to be almost non-existent. The team in that study also identified a working solution being piloted in 2016 in Florida; it’s expected to succeed and then launch nationally. New research on using nurse practitioners to train and retain staff, and manage medication fulfillment, delivery and administered were addressed at the Wharton School summit on “Rethinking the Pharmaceutical Paradigm in Long Term Care.”

John also co-founded RevolutionCare, a start-up dedicated to improving the quality of life and care costs for seniors in nursing homes and homebound seniors in the community. His goal: to revolutionize how America cares for vulnerable seniors.

Lisa La BonteFounder and Chief Advisor, Arab Youth Venture Foundation

Lisa La Bonte began her career in Silicon Valley and is an international business expert having spent over 20 years on the ground in 21 nations (Asia, Middle East, E. Europe) advising Fortune 50 & Global 500 MNCs in market entry, strategy and brand creation including launches of entities for Royalty, sovereign wealth funds, UHNWs/family offices.

As an innovator, entrepreneur and consultant with a penchant for technology and venture finance, Lisa has built 7 companies, raised over $225MM & served as an adviser to 100+ SMEs as well as lead advisor to a number of incubators/accelerators and private equity funds' portfolio companies.

Lisa is frequently quoted in the media and speaks on topics such as start-ups, angel funding, capital acquisition, and innovative STEM and space education. Lisa has served as an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate level teaching courses in Asian Business, Int'l Business Strategy and Entrepreneurship.

Within her pioneering businesses Lisa has created programs under Executive Order of the White House, secured a historic Space Act Agreement and NASA Innovation Partnership, is the Lockheed Martin Partner for Innovation in the Middle East and delivered the GCC's first United Nations Association funded in part by the U.S. Dept. of State serving five years as its Secretary-General.

Lisa holds an MBA in International Business, an M.S. in Internet Strategy & Technology Mgmt and a B.A. in Political Science/International Relations.

Jonathan D. Schlaifer

Jonathan D. Schlaifer is an experienced patent attorney with experience in protecting his clients’ technologies through prosecution and counseling. Mr. Schlaifer’s background as a software engineer, a Patent Examiner, and a lawyer make him a valued asset to clients who wish to manage their intellectual property.
As a Patent Attorney, Mr. Schlaifer has worked on a large number of computer-related applications, including a wide variety of hardware and software technologies, as well as various technologies in electronic and mechanical fields, including a variety of medical devices and business methods applications.

Mr. Schlaifer worked as a software engineer at the National Library of Medicine and as a Patent Examiner before attending law school. During law school, Mr. Schlaifer was an intern at the Solicitor’s Office of the USPTO, assisting in litigation. Mr. Schlaifer has also practiced law as a patent prosecutor at large law firms in the Washington, DC area, including a general practice firm and IP boutiques. Mr. Schlaifer has represented a variety of large clients as well as smaller clients, preparing and prosecuting applications, advising clients, assisting with legal research, due diligence, and litigation support work. During his time at large firms, Mr. Schlaifer also worked on a variety of pro bono cases, such as in landlord-tenant law and family law cases.

Laura Chung

Laura S. Chung is a skilled patent attorney with extensive experience in preparing and prosecuting U.S. patent applications in a wide range of technologies, including fuel and solar cells, wireless power technology, and chemical reaction control and method of manufacturing raw materials for lithium-ion batteries.
Ms. Chung’s experience extends to ITC litigation involving 3M and Sanyo regarding lithium-ion battery, which involves chemical processing methods that produce lithium-ion batteries that can be repetitively recharged and maintain charge at extreme environmental conditions.

Prior to joining NSIP, Ms. Chung worked in a general practice law firm and a patent prosecution law firm in Washington D.C. area, focusing on patent prosecution, and client counseling. She has experience in drafting opinion letters, negotiating licensing agreements, preparing for inter parte reexaminations, and ITC litigations, as well as prosecuting hundreds of patent applications to allowance. In addition, she was the recipient of Morrison and Forester’s 2009 pro bono award.

She is an active member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, Asian Pacific American Bar Association and Korean American Intellectual Property Bar Association, and has served as a treasurer of the Korean American Intellectual Property Bar Association in 2012.

Sandra BaerPresident, Personal Cities

Sandra Baer is the President of Personal Cities—a smart city company focused on innovation and stakeholder engagement. She is a champion of creative collaboration between the public and private sectors; her firm delivers strategic advice to cities and companies that builds trust and accelerates the deployment of innovative technologies. She is an effective advocate for strengthening a city’s image—engaging the community ecosystem to make every city more prosperous. Throughout her career she has worked to foster cooperation between the public and private sectors, helping elected officials, worldwide, to make faster, better decisions. She has experience in the communications industry—telecommunication, wireless, Internet, broadcasting and cable—and has an extensive background in government affairs, homeland security, cyber security and public safety resilience.

Previously, Baer served as Senior Director for Alliances at the Smart Cities Council. She was responsible for leading engagement with government and civic leaders in cities around the globe. She successfully led Smart City Now events, showcasing the expertise of city and company leaders to transform cities.

Dr. Hans C. Mumm

US Army Captain (Ret) Hans C. Mumm…now Dr. Hans C. Mumm was a mustang, serving eight years in the enlisted ranks and over eight years as an officer before becoming a wounded warrior.

He served as the officer in charge of the “Iraqi Regime Playing Cards, CENTCOM’S Top 55 Most Wanted List” which was touted by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) as one the most successful Information Operations (IO) in the history of DIA. Leadership is his passion and has been the key to his success.

Dr. Mumm is a published researcher in both the scientific and social science arenas. His published works include Embracing the Need for Leadership in the New World of Unmanned Vehicles and Robotics, Managing the Integration and Harmonization of National Airspace for Unmanned and Manned Systems and co-authoring, The Multi-Fuel Optimization System: A Technical Discussion, and drafted Legislation to Establish a National Inter-Agency Working Group To Develop Policies and Protocols On the Use of UAVs and Robotics. His UAV and robotics policies have focused on determining the specific uses, exceptions, and allowances; including studying the unintended consequences and future use and misuse of such technologies.

David E. Bither

Mr. David Bither has over 20 years’ leadership experience in business strategy and corporate and technology development within the defense, aerospace and national security industries. He is the Managing Director of ForwardTrace, LLC, a company focused on strategy and portfolio development for the emerging situational intelligence and environmental sensing market. He co-founded and chaired the Intelligence Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) Technology Consortium (ISRTC), an international group of 84 industry, academic and not-for-profit organizations focused on developing the market for unmanned systems, communications and sensor payloads and data analytics to the defense, national security and commercial market sector.

David was a senior advisor to the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) and performed executive portfolio analysis with JIEDDO (Joint IED Defeat Organization). He served as an asymmetric warfare ISR SME and scenario developer for DoD sponsored studies examining the department’s emerging ISR architecture.

Prior to starting a business career, David was a career Army officer serving in several operational, command, and senior staff positions. David has an MS in Information Systems Technology from The George Washington University. He graduated from Harvard University’s Executive Studies program and the Defense Acquisition University’s Defense Systems Management College and is certified in both Systems Engineering and Program Management.

Joel Coulter

Joel Coulter has successfully launched two UAS companies EchoStorm Worldwide, LLC and KSI Data Sciences. While with EchoStorm, Joel captured business with DHS NOC, Defense, First Responder, and Border and Port Security clients addressing their ability to integrate Unmanned Systems situational awareness capabilities with their other fixed security/surveillance systems. He was a Board member of DC-Chapter AUVSI and National Defense University’s Star-Tides Committee, and led Counter-Terrorism, Humanitarian Assistance, and Stability UAS exercise and training programs involving U.S. and global partners with next gen ICT/ISR and Unmanned Systems innovations.

Joel worked with a team to set up a UAS Consortium and led a team with UAVPRO that enabled Fort Pickett to become a National Guard UAS Center of Excellence. During the grant proposal process, Joel worked with Gary Haines now in Oregon to gather over $4.5M in “In-Kind” Unmanned Systems contributions that could be matched by Virginia’s Tobacco Commission grant.

Over the last two years Joel has been working to form the Secure Chain and the DVA-Consortiums ability to capture global Border, Port, Critical Infrastructure Protection, Logistics and Supply, Agriculture and Energy business involving UAS. Joel’s most recent work to advance Non-DoD UAS business can be seen at www.ksivideo.com and www.dvaconsortium.com.

Professor David J. Reibstein's research focuses on competitive marketing strategies, marketing metrics, and product line decisions, among other issues. Most recently, Professor Reibstein's research on competitive marketing strategies addresses competitors' reactions to marketing actions, offering companies insight into ways to anticipate these reactions and use them as a part of strategizing. His marketing metrics work has focused on linking marketing metrics to financial consequences resulting in his most recent book, entitled Marketing Metrics: The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance, 2nd ed.

Professor Reibstein is the Immediate Past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Marketing Association. A former Executive Director of the Marketing Science Institute, he consults extensively with companies worldwide, including GE, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Rohm and Haas, and others.

His research has been published in top-tier academic journals, Professor Reibstein is a dynamic, award-winning teacher who has been honored with more than 30 teaching awards. In 2005, he also received the John S. Day Distinguished Alumni Academic Service Award of Purdue University's Krannert School of Management, an honor given to a graduate whose service within the academic community reflects the spirit and service of former Krannert Dean John Day. His teaching interests include Marketing Strategy in the MBA Program, as well as teaching Competitive Marketing Strategy, Marketing Metrics, Pricing Strategies, and various other programs for Wharton's Executive Education Program.

Professor Reibstein received his PhD from Purdue University and his BS and BA degrees from the University of Kansas.

Professor Reibstein has conducted a series of in-depth interviews wtih CEOs and CMOs on the topic of marketing measurement. You can view the video series below. And, he currently has his own radio show on SiriusXM, Channel 111.

Chris Calabrese is Vice President for Policy at the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) where he oversees CDT’s policy portfolio. Chris has long been an advocate for privacy protections, Internet openness, limits on government surveillance, and fostering the responsible use of new technologies.

Chris has appeared before Congress and in media (CBS Evening News, Fox News, National Public Radio) discussing technology and privacy issues. Often quoted in publications (the New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press), he was named one of Washington’s Top Lobbyists (The Hill – 2012, 2013). Chris also sits on the Consumer Advisory Committee - Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Earlier, Chris helped lead several national ACLU campaigns opposing state implementation of the Real ID Act and ending law enforcement’s use of data-mining as part of the Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange (MATRIX) program.

Before ACLU work, Chris was legal counsel to the Massachusetts Senate Majority Leader, Linda J. Melconian. He helped draft legislation to ensure privacy and anti-discrimination laws covered genetic information. A graduate of Harvard University, he holds a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center and lives in the D.C. area with his wife and three children.

Dr. Allen is the inaugural Scientific Director of the Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology. Combining insights from the worlds of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry and materials science, Allen is a pioneer in the field of micro-electromechanical systems, or MEMS, and nanofabrication technology.

Mark’s research allows the creation of structures, sensors and actuators that exploit the unique potential of the small scale. For example, such miniscule devices can sit at the intersection of the biological and the digital, sensing the physical and electrical signals found in the heart and in the brain and transmitting them to computers for processing. Mark has published approximately 120 journal articles and holds approximately 40 patents.

Bryan McClellandPresident & CEO, Bamb Ecological Technology Inc.

Bryan Benitez McClelland is a Filipino-­‐American environmental consultant, eco-tourism developer and social entrepreneur. While working on his Masters degree in Environmental Resource Management at the University of Pennsylvania, he became involved with Gawad Kalinga (GK), a community development program based in the Philippines. After helping GK kickstart their green building program, called Green Kalinga, he founded Bamb EcoLogical Technology, Inc. in order to have a platform for his socio-­‐ ecological enterprise projects. He works with community members of a GK village in Victoria, Tarlac called Bambuilders. Bambike, a premium bamboo bicycle line is the flagship product of the company. Bambowtie was conceptualized soon after in order to upcycle the bamboo scraps and off-­‐cuts from the Bambike building process. After 8 years of living and working in the Philippines he is still fueled with an obsession for bamboo and social enterprise development. Bryan’s goals are to promote new green economies with appropriate environmental technologies and to create jobs for the people the need them the most.

Bryan is now also working as the Director of Sustainability at Enderun Colleges. His team is establishing a pioneer undergraduate program in sustainability focused on social entrepreneurship, food systems and ecotourism development.

Bryan holds two degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters in Environmental Resource Management and a Bachelors in Environmental Studies and Anthropology.

Laetitia Gazel AnthoineFounder and CEO, Connecthings

Connecthings is the European leader of the Internet of Public Things. They transform cities of all sizes into world-class smart cities by connecting the physical world with the digital world. When Laetitia started the company in 2007, she had a strong vision and intuition that smartphones would be a promising bridge to connect the passive, physical world of street furniture, bus stops, shop windows, etc. to relevant digital content, delivering that content to a specific individual, at a specific location, at a specific point in time. Put simply, Connecthings facilitates the implementation of a wide range of mobile services through their proprietary networks of intelligent beacons; typically deploying iBeacon, NFC, and QR code technologies as a combined package at points of presence throughout a city. This is how the magic works: they make the invisible, visible, and the unconnected, connected.

Connecthings is based in Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, Milan, Rio de Janeiro.

Prior to Connecthings, Laetitia worked for mobile operators, solution providers and major device manufacturers. In 1999 she managed the implementation of the first Mobile internet gateway for Orange. In 2001, she founded a consultancy company to provide operational support in mobile value added services implementation. Her vision of the mobile internet and the internet of things took Laetitia to found Connecthings in 2007.

In 2011, Women Business Mentoring Initiative selected Laetitia to enter the WBMI mentoring program. Today, Laetitia is proud to be part of WBMI as a mentor.

Laetitia is an engineer and is member of INRIA board. Public science and technology institution established in 1967, Inria is the only public research body fully dedicated to computational sciences. Combining computer sciences with mathematics, Inria’s 3,449 researchers strive to invent the digital technologies of the future.

Lee DudkaSenior Adviser, SyTrue

LEE DUDKA is Senior Adviser at SyTrue, a data-driven-healthcare company providing next-gen analytics across the continuum of care. He’s been strategic adviser at pharma and technology companies (BMS, J&J, Pfizer, ABB, Honeywell, CACI) and is a partner in an eyecare drug startup, plus has served as NIH Fellow and taught at Princeton, SUNY and Rutgers.

As business strategist, his global work takes him from board rooms to major campuses. Included: healthcare, technology and medicine -- multi-billion-dollar heart, urology, anti-depressive drugs and the C-level global strategy plans behind them. He’s led teams on IT projects for Fortune 100 companies and major US campuses.

As executive issues coach (C-levels, high-potentials and teams), he’s served F500 and Global 2000 companies at major business units. There he’s led corporate coaching and board strategy retreats (470 sessions with 200+ teams). This includes writing the global product plans and the key speeches of C-level executives (3 in “Vital Speeches,” the publication-of-record for US speeches). This extensive reach now spans work as a communications executive and president, co-leading the Princeton Writing Workshop, and delivering an experimental program for NJ state penitentiary “honors camp” inmates.

Since 2001, he's been developing a research-driven networking model used in over 30 cities (20 countries) -- military, corporate and university sites -- that taps rich project networks to achieve complex and innovative project goals. He’s received many awards, including the annual Alumni Award for Service to Princeton University.

Tom GlendeningCEO, E3think

E3Think uses technology, economics and design to maximize the value of real estate and other urban assets. Example projects: transformation of disused shopping center in London, UK into highly successful niche trade mart; optimization of global facilities portfolio of one of the world's largest manufacturers; and reclamation of prominent Jewish properties in Leipzig once confiscated by the Third Reich. Hundreds of millions of dollars of value created.

E3Think is also behind a number of innovative bike share programs and proposals in the northeast. And in addition to founding Inventropolis, E3Think has co-founded UrbanLabs and UrbanShare.

Tom holds an MBA from Harvard, an MArch from Yale and a BS from Virginia.

Carlos PujolCEO, P3GM Inc.

Prior to P3GM, Pujol led CEMUSA USA, which holds the NYC’s $1BN street furniture contract (3,500 bus shelters; 330 newsstands). While at CEMUSA he led expansion into Europe and the Americas, and he helped develop the company’s bike programs. He is a board member of the Municipal Arts Society and leads the Technology Committee at the Spain US Chamber of Commerce. MBA Illinois, BA (Law) from CEU / Universidad Complutense.

Philipp Meyer-SchmelingCEO, Velolock (Lock8)

Prior to becoming Velolock’s CEO, Philipp joined the company as VP of Business Development shortly after it won the 2013 TechCrunch Disrupt Cup in London with Lock8. Backed by Otto Capital, Horizon Ventures, Pascal Cagni (C4 Ventures) and Atlantic Internet, the company has established operations in San Francisco, CA and Berlin, Germany.

With 14 years of experience in business development, Philipp started his career in project finance as a hands-on consultant in turnaround situations in the early 2000s. During his career prior to Velolock, he learned to apply his passion for working in challenging environments and multi-disciplinary teams, both in old and new economy companies.

Philipp studied French and Law at the University of Surrey and speaks English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. He is an avid cyclist, traveler, surfer, and passionate conservationist.

Ario KeshaniCEO, Split

Ario Keshani is CEO and co-founder of Split Technology, Inc., a technology startup working to revolutionize transportation. Split delivers smarter shared rides that utilize advanced technology to instantly connect people traveling in the same direction. Prior to Split, Ario was Vice President of Business Development at Transdev On Demand, responsible for building Transdev’s business in North America. Earlier in his career, Ario launched a ready-to-cook food delivery startup, souschef meals, and spent time as a Business Designer at IDEO and as a consultant and Capgemini. Ario received a B.S. from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Services, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. In his spare time, he likes skiing, football (Washington Redskins), football (Paris Saint-Germain), and windsurfing.

Mary Ellen Callahan, JDPartner, Jenner & Block

Mary Ellen Callahan, JD Chair of Jenner & Block’s Privacy and Information Governance Practice, has unique and broad experience advising clients at the interface of privacy protection with cybersecurity and national security. A nationally recognized privacy attorney with two decades of outside counsel experience, she served as Chief Privacy Officer of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from March 2009 until August 2012. She is a prolific writer and speaker on cutting-edge commercial privacy issues. She provides advice and counsel to an array of clients in industries that include media, public health and health care, manufacturing, online retail, government contracts, energy and other critical infrastructure sectors. In October 2013, Mary Ellen received the Privacy Vanguard Award, given by the International Association of Privacy Professionals, an annual award honoring the privacy professional who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, knowledge and creativity in privacy and data protection.

Sara Haq

Sara is Principal of SH International, which expands businesses through global deals, ventures and initiatives, specializing in tapping into emerging markets opportunities. She has extensive on-the-ground emerging markets business experience across Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and South Asia. She is a sharp negotiator and takes pride in being both business savvy and street smart.She is Chair of the International Forum of the Wharton Club of DC, as well as member of the advisory board of the Sote Tunaweza Initiative, which empowers women in emerging markets through leadership and entrepreneurship institutes. She has been cited or published on emerging markets business in Business Insider, Wharton Entrepreneurship Blog, Nearshore Americas, Forum for International Trade Training, Merger Market, and Pharmaceutical Compliance Monitor. She has spoken on emerging markets business for institutions including: U.S. Small Business Administration, Mid-Atlantic District Export Council, SCORE, U.S. Commercial Service, Fox School of Business, Global Enterprise Hub, and the Wharton School.Sara previously worked for the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group. She studied finance and business at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and is pursuing executive studies in organizational leadership at Georgetown University. She speaks six languages: French, Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, Hindi/Urdu, and her native English. She was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and currently lives in Washington, DC. Follow her on twitter: @HaqCast.

Peter TorrellasNational Business Manager for State and Local Government , Siemens

Peter Torrellas is the National Business Manager for State and Local Government at Siemens and a Fellow at the Center for Neighborhood Technology. His focus is on building performance, water infrastructure, and sustainable energy management. He previously held the position of Chief Technology Officer at Siemens Infrastructure & Cities. His portfolio included logistics, aviation, passenger and freight Rail, ports, and road and city Mobility. Peter has close to 20 years of experience in innovation and infrastructure and began his passion for making our infrastructure more intelligent over a decade ago by successfully designing and delivering over $500M in software, hardware and IT technology for New York City’s infrastructure.

Peter is a nationally recognized thought leader in the design and implementation of new technologies within our built infrastructure and was recently hosted by the United Nations, the World Bank Group, the United States Conference of Mayors, Regional Plan Association, the National Academies of Sciences , and many others to discuss the role of technology in our cities. Peter has been quoted by BBC News, The National League of Cities, CNN Money, Metro Magazine, TechCrunch, The Financial Times, The International City and County Managers Association, and several more.

Tim Meyer is an Associate Partner at IBM Global Business Services, IoT Center of Competency. Tim’s career spans large technology companies Analog Devices and Ericsson as well as a series of startups. As CEO of Crisp Wireless, he pioneered mobile multimedia applications for Nokia, Motorola and AT&T. Tim has consulted for a variety of companies from small to large multinational on electric car charging, smart city networks, solar monitoring systems, wearables and cybersecurity.

Tim held a variety of management roles at Ericsson, culminating in CTO of the Wireless Internet Solutions division. His notable achievement was developing the first wireless, push email system jointly with Research in Motion and RadioMail. This directly led to the development of Blackberry.

He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and has attended the Cleantech Executive Program at NYU-Poly.

Jody Ranck, DrPHCEO, Krysalis Labs

Dr. Jody Ranck has over 25 years of global experience in healthcare and is the author of a recent book, “Connected Health: How Mobiles, Cloud and Big Data will Reinvent Healthcare” and has an in-progress next book on “Disruptive Cooperation in Digital Health”. He is the CEO of Krysalis Labs, a data-driven startup and recently was named among the “Top 100 mHealth influencers.”

He has consulted widely across many industries, startups, management consulting, think tanks, design firms and the telecommunications industry on strategy, innovation and partnerships. His Digital Health consulting practice works with PwC, the French Tech Hub, Data Guild, a data analytics firm. In the past he has held executive roles with the mHealth Alliance, Institute for the Future, InSTEDD and worked at the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. He holds a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley in Health Policy and Administration, an MA in International Relations and Economics from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies and a BA in Biology (Molecular Biology) from Ithaca College.

Holly ParkerPrincipal, Nelson Nygaard

Holly advocates for a diverse transportation system that safely and efficiently serves all users of the road. She believes that a balanced menu of transportation options improves everyone’s quality of life and reduces demand for non-renewable fuel sources. In her almost 20 years working with universities, large employers, advocates, and communities, Holly’s work directing sustainable transportation programs has facilitated quantifiable shifts in commuters’ choice of transportation from driving alone to using transit, carpooling, walking, bicycling and teleworking. She is particularly interested in the ability of technology to facilitate and demystify transit and other sustainable transportation options. Holly introduced the first modern carsharing and bikesharing systems to Yale University and the state of Connecticut. She was actively involved in developing the City of New Haven’s award-winning Complete Streets policy while Director of Sustainable Transportation Systems at Yale.

Holly holds an MS Environmental Studies / Pollution Prevention from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and a BA, Political Science from the University of New Hampshire.

Kojo S. J. Elenitoba-Johnson, MD

Kojo S. J. Elenitoba-Johnson, MD, is the inaugural Peter C. Nowell, MD Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He is also the Founding Director of Penn Medicine’s Center for Personalized Diagnostics, as well as Chief of the Division of Precision and Computational Diagnostics.

Dr. Elenitoba-Johnson is an international leader in the field of Hematopathology and Molecular Pathology, as well as mass spectrometry-driven proteomics. Dr. Elenitoba-Johnson earned his MD from the College of Medicine at the University of Lagos, in Nigeria. He underwent residency training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at Brown University School of Medicine. He completed a fellowship in Hematopathology at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. He is certified by the American Board of Pathology in Combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, with sub-specialty certification in Hematology and Molecular Genetic Pathology.

Dr. Elenitoba-Johnson’s research is focused on the pathogenesis of human malignant lymphomas and cancer biomarker discovery by genomic and proteomic profiling. Dr. Elenitoba-Johnson has been recognized for his work with numerous awards, including the American Society of Investigative Pathology Scholarship in 1993; the Outstanding Graduating Resident Award from Brown University in 1995; the Society for Hematopathology Pathologist in Training Award in 1998; the Outstanding Teaching Award in Anatomic Pathology from the University of Utah (1999 and 2003); and the Ramzi Cotran Young Investigator Award from the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology in 2006. He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2011), and is the recipient of the Outstanding Investigator Award given by the American Society for Investigative Pathology (2012). His work has been supported by extramural awards including grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Elenitoba-Johnson is a member for the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Cancer Institute of the NIH. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Hematopathology and a member of numerous professional societies, including the American Society of Hematology, American Society for Investigative Pathology, United States and Canadian Academy of Pathologists, and the Association of Molecular Pathologists (AMP). He served as the Chair of the Hematopathology Division of AMP from 2008-2009. He has authored or co-authored more than 130 peer-reviewed research publications and has contributed more than 40 chapters to professional textbooks in Pathology.

Greg Cullison

Greg Cullison is Chief Operating Officer at Big Sky Associates in Washington, D.C., a management consulting firm specialized in process improvement. In this capacity he serves as the company Insider Threat Subject Matter Expert to expand corporate knowledge and advise clients on industry best practices for their own security, suitability and Insider Threat programs using process improvement and performance management methodologies.

Mr. Cullison has 25 years of experience in cross-functional strategy, operational improvement and multinational teams. His particular areas of focus is Insider Threat prevention, detection and remediation. He has worked for both public and private sector organizations, including the U.S. State Department, U.S. Navy, Big 4 consulting firms, and an insider threat software company. He holds degrees from Princeton University and Claremont McKenna College.

Jay SnyderPrincipal UAV and Robotics Research, Victory Systems, LLC

Mr. Snyder is a first class innovator and strategic thinker whose focus is on the art of the possible. He has proven himself as a visionary for a multitude of very large system of systems efforts and strategic thrusts. Some of those include Air Force Revolutionary Planning; Air Force Long Range Planning; The future DoD ISR architecture; The Coast Guard Deepwater System, The Army Future Combat Systems; The Marine Corps Non-Lethal Weapons Initiative; and the Navy ISR as a contracted service effort. A vision can not be achieved without the technology that enables it. He has been prolific at coming up with revolutionary and high leverage concepts and how to actualize them.

Mr. Snyder also has extensive military experience. He was an F-15E fighter pilot with 57 combat missions in Desert Storm; a Fighter Weapons School Instructor graduate; an instructor pilot; an instructor Mission Commander; a Flight Commander; a member of the Guidance, Apportionment and Targeting Team in Riyadh; Chief of Wing Weapons; Chief of Wing Plans; and worked for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force as Director of Air Force Revolutionary Planning and member of Air Force Long Range Planning.

His focus has been on the manned and unmanned vehicle arena and the artificial intelligence that will make them a potent combination.

Adam LobelFounder, Ecosystem Director at Sizung, Inc.

Sizung’s mission is to accelerate the work of teams solving the world's most important problems. Sizung is creating a global ecosystem of mission driven teams working collaboratively -- across diverse sectors, cultures and geographies -- to achieve universal access to clean air, water, food, energy, security, health, education and economic opportunity. Sizung’s Software as a Service (SaaS) unifies the team communication life-cycle, a cycle currently supported by separate and disjointed software for agenda preparation, live meetings, reporting outcomes & assigning tasks, and execution & follow-up.As Ecosystem Director, Adam is responsible for cultivating the resources we need to achieve our mission, including team members, customers, business partners, and investors. Previously, Adam assembled international science, technology and engineering teams for the governments of Japan and the United States. Adam holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley in Religious Studies, and an MS in Environmental and Information Studies from Tokyo City University.

Dr David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc

DR. DAVID FAJGENBAUM, MD, MBA, MSc (Penn Med ’13; Wharton ’15) - Dr. David Fajgenbaum -- professor and researcher battling a rare and deadly illness as a
physician, researcher, advocate, and patient. He co-founded the Castleman Disease
Collaborative Network (CDCN) in 2012 to accelerate research and treatments for
Castleman disease. He now serves as Research Assistant Professor of Medicine in the
Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania and the Executive
Director of the CDCN. Along with Wharton MBA and Penn Med classmates, he's
developed an innovative, “business-inspired” approach to medical research that is more
strategic, collaborative, and outcome-focused.

Judy Murphy, RN, FACMI, FHIMSS, FAANIBM’s Chief Nursing Officer (CNO)

Judy Murphy, IBM’s Chief Nursing Officer (CNO), helps develop health IT solutions for providers to improve health care and lower costs. Earlier, she was CNO and Deputy National Coordinator for Programs and Policy (Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT) in Washington D.C. There she led federal efforts to assist health care providers in adopting health IT to improve care and to promote consumers’ understanding and use of health IT. She joined ONC after 25 years in health informatics at Aurora Health Care (Wisconsin), an integrated delivery network with 15 hospitals, 120 ambulatory centers, and 30,000+ employees. As Vice President-EHR Applications, she led its EHR program since 1995, when Aurora was one of the early adopters of health IT.

She has a long-standing reputation of patient advocacy and a patient-centric approach, marked by energy and commitment to tech-enabled healthcare transformation. She publishes and lectures globally and served on AMIA’s and HIMSS’s Board of Directors. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the American College of Medical Informatics and HIMSS. Among her many awards: the AMIA 2014 Don Eugene Detmer Award for Health Policy Contributions in Informatics, the HIMSS 2014 Federal Health IT Leadership Award, the HIMSS 2012 Distinguished Fellows Service Award, and HIMSS 2006 Nursing Informatics Leadership Award. Recognitions: Among the “20 People Who Make Healthcare Better” (2007-HealthLeaders magazine), and one of 33 Nursing Informatics Pioneers showcased in the Nursing Informatics History Project.

Shelly O’DonovanConsultant/Former GSK Think Tank Engagement Lead

Shelly advocates for a healthcare system that safely embraces innovation. She feels that only through focused pharmaceutical innovation will breakthroughs for patients be realized. She has a passion for patients and solid public policy, and has led vaccine advocacy for GSK, worked as a healthcare lobbyist for the University of Pennsylvania, and served as a staffer in the New Jersey General Assembly and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Shelly led an award-winning grassroots advocacy campaign for UPHS and successfully lobbied for restoration of cuts to several Medicaid programs on the state level, restoring $16 million in cuts for the Health System. While at Penn, Shelly spearheaded the health system’s involvement in a pharmacy coalition, advocating and lobbying for funding issues related to pharmacy discount programs saving UPHS hospitals over $4 million annually in operating costs. At GSK her accomplishments include orchestrating the GSK position formulation on key issues and providing strategic counsel to state and federal government relations, and advocacy teams. Shelly holds a certificate of Marketing Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, an MPA from Penn’s Fels Institute of Government, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Millersville University.

Andrew Ray, JD

Andrew Ray, J.D. graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1991 with his JD and MA in Economics. He is a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP where he serves as the Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Corporate Business Transactions group in D.C. Andrew represents public and private companies in a broad range of corporate, finance, telecommunications, media, and technology matters. He led the team representing Oculus VR in its $2 billion sale to Facebook, which was named the 2014 M&A Advisor M&A Deal of the Year. Andrew is a Buffalo native currently residing in D.C. with his family.

Jeff co-founded PayMyBills.com, an online bill management service, in 1998. The company was a success story in the dot com era, growing to more than 200 people prior to its sale for $67 million. Jeff has also worked as an eBusiness Builder and Strategy Consultant for McKinsey & Co., as an EIR Professor at James Madison University and as a Regional Manager for Travelers P&C’s bond organization where he co-led the development of a new division that wrote large bond guarantees for technology companies.

In 2015, Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed Jeff to serve on the Board of Visitors at James Madison University. Jeff also serves on the Board of James Madison Innovations, Inc. at JMU. Jeff also advises a number of emerging companies in the Washington, DC area.

Jeff earned his MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a BBA in Finance and Economics from James Madison University, where in 2002 he was the youngest person in the school’s history to win James Madison University’s Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. Jeff holds the CFA, CPCU and AFSB professional designations.

Jeff lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife Michelle and two children, Grayson and Riley. Jeff is an avid international traveler and enjoys running marathons barefoot.

Manpreet Singh

As Employee #1 at Profit Investment Management, Manpreet Singh helped grow assets from $20 million to over $2 billion. Now, he is co-founder and president of TalkLocal - a local service marketplace delivering 2,000,000+ calls nationwide by sending online service requests to available matching businesses by phone. The University of Maryland, College Park alum received his MBA from the Wharton School of Business in Entrepreneurship, Finance and Real Estate.

John Saaty

John Saaty is the co-founder and president of Decision Lens, a cloud-based software analytics company headquartered in Arlington that enables customers to strategically identify, prioritize, analyze, and select the projects or products that will deliver the best outcomes.

Prior to Decision Lens, John was the Chief Marketing Officer for Earth Networks, a high-growth technology company, where he was responsible for marketing, product management, business development, and international market entry. Saaty also lead the creation of a new business unit to provide live, local weather conditions to corporations and government organizations.

Prior to joining Earth Networks, Saaty was vice president of Marketing for Cysive, Inc., a multi-channel software solutions builder in Reston, VA., where he was responsible for building and managing comprehensive corporate marketing, business development, and product marketing capabilities, as well as directing the company through an IPO and a secondary offering to raise $180MM. Previously, Saaty was brand manager with Intel Corporation where he was responsible for brand management and marketing programs for microprocessors such as the Pentium Pro, Pentium with MMX Technology, Pentium II and Pentium III, as well as Intel chipsets. Saaty also developed the USB brand.

Saaty has an MBA with dual majors in marketing and entrepreneurial management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Sachin Kamal-Bahl, PhD

SACHIN KAMAL-BAHL, PhD -- Vice President at Pfizer and Head-Global Health and Value Innovation Center at Pfizer. The Center develops and integrates innovative approaches (and studied risks) for addressing access, pricing and valuation. Among its strategic efforts: Identifying the strategic implications of environmental issues on valuation and access; developing and testing prototypes for embedding in company internal processes to leverage Pfizer’s demonstrable value and drive market access for its assets; developing and evaluating innovative approaches for access, pricing and valuation opportunities for Pfizer assets, plus spearheading efforts to fully support Pfizer’s approach to access and value internally and externally.

As Executive Director and Global HTA Strategy Head at Merck & Co., he provided strategic guidance to senior leaders on issues related to health technology assessment (HTA) and its evolving landscape and led development of Merck's positions on key HTA areas. His Merck group helped translate and execute key HTA concepts across all franchises and regions.

Earlier, Dr. Kamal-Bahl was Merck’s Global Access Team Leader for Diabetes and Obesity. In this key strategic role, he led a company-wide global cross-functional team creating an integrated market access strategy (pricing, reimbursement, HEOR, HTA, and payer and stakeholder engagement) to optimize profitability and access – then implemented the strategy for all Diabetes and Obesity products.

In the earlier role of Merck’s Global Strategic Pricing Leader, he was responsible for developing all Diabetes and Obesity product pricing strategies. He led the development of HEOR, market access, and reimbursement strategies for cardiovascular and metabolics products -- leveraging the value proposition for cardiovascular, diabetes & obesity products (US Outcomes Research & Management and Global Outcomes Research departments).
Dr. Kamal-Bahl, a clinically trained pharmacist (PhD. Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, University of Maryland-Baltimore) is Adjunct Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (University of Pennsylvania) and Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.

He is active in key professional organizations and publishes regularly – selected publications: American Journal of Cardiology, Archives of Internal Medicine, Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Diabetes Care, Health Affairs, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Chris DattaroOperations Manager, DC -- Lyft

Chris is the Operations Manager for Lyft in Washington D.C. where he oversees day-to-day operations for Lyft in the DC, MD, and VA region. Prior to Lyft, Chris worked briefly at a small startup that used technology to bring affordable private investigative services to consumers. Before venturing into the technology sector, Chris worked in financial services for Goldman Sachs and FBR Capital Markets.

Chris holds a B.S. in Economics from the United States Naval Academy. He served on active duty for five years as an officer in the Navy.

Josh Crumb

Josh Crumb is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of BitGold. He is an entrepreneur with a background in early stage global businesses. Josh was previously the Senior Metals Strategist at Goldman Sachs in the Global Economics, Commodities and Strategies research division in London. He also held various positions within the Lundin group of companies, serving as Director of Corporate Development and Special Project Analyst for group chairman Lukas Lundin. Currently, Josh is a director of three Canadian listed public companies and plays a large role in many philanthropic organizations. He holds a Master of Science degree in Mineral Economics, a Graduate Certificate in International Political Economy, and Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.

Norbert Michel, PhD

Nobert Michel, PhD is the Heritage Foundation’s research fellow in financial regulations, studies and writes about financial markets and monetary policy, including the reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Before rejoining Heritage in 2013, Michel was a tenured professor at Nicholls State University’s College of Business, teaching finance, economics and statistics.

Radhesh Nair

Radhesh Nair – IBM Watson Health Leader (Life Sciences and Healthcare) -- has operated at the intersection of Life Sciences and Advanced Analytics for over fifteen years. In his present role at IBM Watson Health, he works with leading global Life Sciences and Healthcare organizations to create cognitive solutions that harness the burgeoning trove of healthcare, personal and contextual data for Digital Patient Engagement and Real World Evidence generation.

Previously, he was an applied analytics practitioner, having deployed a variety of quantitative techniques on structured and unstructured data to generate business insights across the spectrum from early-stage research to commercial operations.

Radhesh holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta, India and a B Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, India. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia.

Lori M Reilly, Esq

Lori M. Reilly, Esq. - Executive Vice President for Policy and Research at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). Ms. Reilly leads PhRMA’s policy and research department in the development and implementation of legislative, regulatory and political strategies to successfully navigate the ever-changing federal health care landscape, working to advance policies that encourage medical progress and patient access to the fruits of pharmaceutical innovation.

In addition to her public policy work, Ms. Reilly is a frequent presenter on industry-related issues and is an industry spokesperson. Ms. Reilly testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health to discuss the importance of the reauthorization of the pediatric exclusivity program and the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act.

Prior to joining PhRMA, she was counsel at the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Commerce. And before joining the House Commerce Committee, Ms. Reilly was Chief of Staff/Counsel to Rep. Jon Christensen, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Ms. Reilly is currently a Board Member for the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA), a Board Member of the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of The Food and Drug Law Institute’s Policy Forum.

Ms. Reilly received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she graduated with Honors, and a J.D. from the University of Nebraska College of Law. She is a Member of the Virginia Bar and currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband and their four children.

Laurel Lindstrom Todd

Laurel Todd is Vice President, Healthcare Policy and Research at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), where she directs the association’s policy efforts related to Medicare, Medicaid, health reform and economic trends and policies impacting BIO member companies. Prior to joining BIO, Laurel advised pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and other medical technology and physician groups on Medicare coding, coverage and reimbursement issues at HillCo Partners, LLC, a public policy consulting firm. Laurel also previously served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Administrator and Deputy Capital Markets Advisor for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in Washington, D.C.

Laurel holds undergraduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Georgetown University.

J. Mark EgglestonCISO and Chief Privacy Officer

J. Mark Eggleston – CISO and Chief Privacy Officer -- Mark Eggleston is a senior executive specializing in security and privacy program development and management. His unique background and expertise in information technology, program and people management combined with his diverse experience in managed care and health care provider systems has positioned him as a thought leader and frequent speaker. He currently is a Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Privacy Officer at a leading Philadelphia HMO where he leads the implementation and maturation of various security technologies and privacy initiatives. He also manages a business continuity and disaster recovery program.

Mr. Eggleston started his professional career serving as a Program Manager and Psychotherapist at a hospital serving children and adolescents. Later, he helped develop an internal compliance approach, complete with policies and tools, ensuring a geographically dispersed health care provider organization (across 19 states) that complied with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). He then transitioned to apply his HIPAA expertise to a local health plan. He was promoted into a series of positions to direct a health plan’s security and business continuity programs where he has helped to implement many successful security controls to include, single sign on (SSO), Identity and Access Management (IAM), vulnerability assessment program, and a comprehensive business continuity program.

Mr. Eggleston received his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Radford University. He later received both his Masters in Social Work and his Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Management Information Systems (Virginia Commonwealth University). Mr. Eggleston holds CHPS, CHPS and CISSP certifications.

S. Tien WongCEO, Tech 2000 & appnetic, and Chairman, Lore Systems

Tien is CEO of Tech 2000, Inc. a Northern Virginia based leader in technology training, mobile e-learning, and mobile content management platforms. He is also Chairman of Lore Systems, a provider of IT support, network engineering and cloud computing services. He is an active angel investor and limited partner in several VC funds.

In 1991, Tien co-founded and served as CEO of CyberRep, Inc. until its acquisition in 2003 by Affiliated Computer Services. CyberRep was one of the largest privately held CRM outsourcing companies in the world with over 2,300 employees and $80 million in revenue. Today, the CyberRep/ACS business unit is one of the world’s largest call center operations, with over $2 billion in revenue as a division of Xerox Corp. CyberRep was ranked for 4 consecutive years in Inc. Magazine’s “Inc. 500” as one of the fastest growing private companies in the US.

Tien is a recognized international expert in CRM, direct marketing, and BPO, having presented at dozens of industry events around the world, and written numerous articles on the CRM and BPO spaces. He has provided industry commentary on the ABC, Fox, NBC, CNBC, Maryland Public Television, and China’s CCTV networks, as well as Time Magazine, The Washington Post, Inc. Magazine, and Success Magazine. He serves on several boards including the CIT GAP Fund’s Investment Advisory Board, the Digital DC Tech Fund Investment Advisory Board, the Potomac Officer’s Club and FounderCorps. He was appointed by Governor Martin O’Malley to the 9-member Maryland Venture Fund Authority which allocates and manages $84 million of capital which is invested into top tier venture funds. He is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, and a graduate of Dartmouth College.

Mr. Gumbinner is a serial investor/executive/advisor/capital raiser. He has been in Micro-Cap Private Equity and Angel Investing for over thirty years and formally for over twelve years. He has worked in various capacities with hundreds of start-ups and early stage companies. He has extensive experience in capital-raising matters, involving all levels of the capital stack, having participated in over US$30 billion of successful financings and corporate transactions, ranging from 4Fs, Angel and Seed funding to IPOs, Dispositions or other exits.

In addition to his numerous private investment activities, Mr. Gumbinner is a consultant and advisor to several early stage technology ventures, and has served in an executive capacity or as a board member or advisor to over 75 companies. He currently is a Managing Director of several Private Equity firms and is the President of the DC Metro Chapter of Keiretsu Forum, the largest and most prevalent Angel Investor Group on the planet. A couple highlights of his achievements are serving as President and CEO of an early-stage magnetics company where he increasing the value of the company by over 1000 fold in four years; and serving as VP & GC of an electricity generation development company that yielded a $400 million return on $110 million total investment, with an IRR well in excess of 100%.

Mr. Gumbinner received his BA (magna cum laude) from Colgate University and his JD degree (magna cum laude and Contributing Editor of the Michigan Law Review) from The University of Michigan Law School.

Jiemin Li JordanManaging Partner, Decisive Investment Group

Jiemin Jordan, Managing Partner of Decisive Investment Group, is a seasoned entrepreneur and an angle investor. She is a mentor and an investor of Mach37, a cyber security accelerator. Currently, she is working on setting up a CONNECTpreneur Investment Network.

She was the founder and CEO of Endeavor Systems, Inc., a cyber security firm providing products and solutions to US market since 2003. Endeavor Systems was recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the 100 fast growing companies in America. In 2012, Endeavor Systems was acquired by Telesis Corporation as a subsidiary.

Over the past nine (9) years, as the CEO of Endeavor Systems, Jiemin has managed the day-to-day operations and provided the strategic direction for Endeavor’s long term growth, which includes building the Endeavor culture, process and the management team, identifying the technology, product and marketing strategies, and maximizing earning potentials.

In 2005, Endeavor Security Inc., a subsidiary of Endeavor Systems offering enterprise intrusion prevention and malware detection & analysis products, was spun off, and was acquired by McAfee in 2009.

Jiemin has more than 20 years experience in the IT industry. Prior to Endeavor, Jiemin had held increasing management responsibilities in the Internet, satellite and mobile communication industrials. She led the engineering department at Orbcomm, a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communication company, and helped to grow the organization from 40 people to 400 people. She managed the multiple development projects for mobile cellular phone communication at Sprint & Nextel. And, she launched email services offering at VeriSign.

Jiemin received her bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering from Shanghai Jiaotong University, and completed Master of Computer Science degree at George Mason University. She is a graduated member of MindShare Executive Management Program.

Joseph R. KesslerManaging Partner, Next-Stage Development Group

Joseph (Joe) Kessler is managing partner and co-founder of the Next-Stage Development Group LLC, a five-partner business consulting and angel investment group started in 2001 to help to bring companies to the “next stage.”

Kessler started his career in leasing and finance. As President and owner of Executive Auto Leasing, he grew this fleet leasing company through the creation of a strong internal sales force and then through a series of acquisitions until the company itself was acquired by SunTrust Bank. Kessler continued with SunTrust as SVP and division CEO. Through this valuable experience, Kessler knows bank borrowing and lending practices from both sides of the table.

He left SunTrust and co-founded Next-Stage in 2001 then later co-founded two existing finance companies, Bethesda Funding LLC (buys receivables from national banks) and Bluescale Capital LLC (factoring and asset-based lending).

He on the boards of directors of Gold Lasso (software) and Global Edge Group (oil and gas industry staffing), has advisory board roles at Cliqued (social media marketing) and Personal Web Assistant Corporation (IT), and served three years on the board of MHR Technologies (RFID).

As Managing Partner for Next-Stage, Joe served as a mentor and panelist for the University of Maryland's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, the MIT Enterprise Forum, and ASM Resources. Kessler was a judge for business plans submitted to the American Security Challenge.

Community Activities: Kessler is board member and immediate Past President and Chairman of Premier Homecare, Inc.. He is also chairman of the MCPS Information Technology Collaboration Board and immediate Past President and founding member on the board of the Montgomery County Students' Information Technology Foundation (ITF). As part of his passion for music, Joe is tour manager and co-producer for the Otis Taylor Band.

John MayManaging Partner, New Vantage Group

John May is the managing partner of New Vantage Group, a McLean, VA firm that innovatively mobilizes private equity into early-stage companies and provides advisory services to both funds, private investors and entrepreneurs. Mr. May’s experience in private equity capital over the last 25 years ranges from venture capital fund management to angel investing in the USA and angel ecosystem development abroad.

Mr. May has been at the forefront of the angel investor movement. He is the founder of five investment groups, as well as the Investors’ Circle, a national non-profit group of 125 family and institutional investors working to grow the social venture capital industry. He is chair-emeritus of the Angel Capital Association (formerly a program of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation), and is a lead instructor for the “Power of Angel Investing” seminars, a program of the Angel Resource Institute. He is the co-author of two books, Every Business Needs an Angel (Crown Business: 2001) and State of the Art: An Executive Briefing on Cutting-Edge Practices in American Angel Investing (Darden Publishing: 2003).

Currently, Mr. May is actively involved with cross-border angel investing and developing angel investment ecosystems in emerging markets. In addition to speaking on angel investment topics in over 20 countries, he is managing partner of Seraphim, a UK-based global venture fund, and is working on USAID projects promoting the formation of angel groups in Indonesia and the Middle East. He also serves on the advisory board for Conservation International’s “Verde Investments.” Mr. May firmly believes that angel investing can trigger success in high-growth companies that spur job creation and economic development around the world.

Mr. May holds a BA from Earlham College, an MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and is a Batten Fellow at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

Mr. Torbert is a Principal and Co-Founder at RLMcCall Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on industrial, media, technology and special situations transactions. Mr. Torbert has spent the last 20 years in the venture capital, private equity, operational management, business development and corporate finance world.

As a founding investor and board member, Mr. Torbert played an integral role in the launch, development and $100MM IPO of Mood Media (TSX: “MM”), an internet-based music services company. He also played a vital role in the formation and growth of Midas Medici (OTB: "MMED"), and orchestrated the acquisition of Direct Air and Swift Air, serving as Chairman of Swift Air, a passenger and cargo charter airline that was spun out of Swift Transportation.

From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Torbert was COO of Broadcast Capital, focused on media and broadcasting investments. From 1999 to 2004, Mr. Torbert was VP of the Financial Sponsor Group at JPMorgan Chase, where he covered top tier middle market private equity clients and completed over $100 billion in transactions in media and telecom. He was previously at AIG, where raised capital for the firm’s $1 billion Global Emerging Markets Fund.

Mr. Torbert is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business and the New Orleans’-based IdeaVillage’s IDEAx and CAPITALx programs. He is a recipient of the Network Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 Award, and serves on the boards of Cultural DC and the New Orleans’ Contemporary Arts Center. Mr. Torbert holds a B.A., a masters degree in International Finance and an MBA, all from Columbia University. Mr. Torbert is also an alumnus and Trustee of the Taft School. He enjoys collecting mid-century and contemporary art, hunting and fishing.

Randy DomolkyManaging Director, Private Access Network

Randy is the Founder and Managing Director for Private Access Network. He is a seasoned technology and venture capital executive with over 20 years of experience in senior management, business development and financial roles. Randy has extensive experience building and maintaining over $100 million of venture capital and private equity fund-of-funds for institutional, municipal and individual investors.Randy is also the Managing Director for Liquid Capital Group. Since 2000, Liquid Capital Group has been managing portfolios of top venture funds and superior emerging information technology companies for high net worth individuals and families.

Between 2006 and 2009, Randy was also a Managing Director at GKM Newport. GKM Newport was a venture capital and private equity fund-of-funds manager with over $1 billion in assets under management. Randy was responsible for expanding and managing the day-to-day operations of the firm’s fund-of-funds offerings and assisting with client services, due diligence and portfolio monitoring for over $800 million in separately managed accounts.

In addition to establishing a distinctive track record at Liquid Capital, Randy has been a Principal at NextStep Partners, LLC. NextStep Partners is a business development and financial advisory firm assisting emerging technology companies.

Randy has also held a variety leadership, finance, marketing and sales positions with NEON Communications, Winstar Communications and MCI.

Randy holds a B.A. in Economics and Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He has also studied at Harvard University and the University of Connecticut.

Mr. Klein is an investor and author who focuses on identifying, investing in and helping build transformative companies – those that not only succeed but transform their industries, their markets and the world around them. During his career he has been involved in financing over 130 venture and growth stage companies.

Presently, he is Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of SWaN & Legend. In this role, he serves on the boards of Anonymous Content, Cava Mezze Grill, La Lumiere, China Senior Care, MyOwnMed, and Launchpad Central. He is also a board observer on CustomInk, Optoro, Quad Learning, and Think Food Group.

In 2005, he founded and served as Managing Partner of Legend Ventures, a private investment firm targeting New Media and Information Technology opportunities. Prior to founding Legend, he was a Managing Director and member of the investment committee of Kinetic Ventures, which he joined in 1994. Earlier in his career, he worked in corporate finance for Salomon Brothers and Chemical Banking Corporation where he completed numerous mergers & acquisitions, restructurings, public and private financings and leveraged buyouts.

In addition to his private equity activities, he is the author of two books on Transformative Companies: East of Wall Street and Built for Change: Essential Traits of Transformative Companies (Praeger Publishing). He is currently writing his third book called Surfing the Avalanche focused on Big Data’s impact in the workplace, due for publication in late 2017.

Mr. Klein is a frequent speaker on capital formation and entrepreneurship and has appeared on Lou Dobbs and CNN, as well as keynoting Fortune Magazine’s Growth Summit. He is a member of Young Presidents Organization, serving in several leadership roles including Chairman of YPO’s largest global network, the Deal Network, where he built worldwide membership to over 4,000 CEOs in 105 countries. He is an Executive Producer of the film “Breakup at a Wedding.” He received his BBA from the University of Texas and MBA from Harvard Business School.

George D. Thomas

George Thomas is a thought leader and adviser to public and private sector organizations with extensive experience in helping them develop sound and successful strategies in business transformation and enterprise applications. Over eighteen years, George has held a variety of Sales and Consulting leadership roles. George currently serves as Global Director of Strategy & Market Development for IBM’s Government Industry vertical. In this role, he is responsible for the strategy and execution of emerging solutions such as cognitive computing to assist Public Sector organizations in delivering improved services to their citizens.

From 2012 to 2014 he served as the Director of Smarter Cities for IBM Greater China, based in Beijing, PRCand from 2010 to 2012, he served as the Global Director for Smarter Cities Sales Strategy & Execution, based in Washington DC. Prior roles have included US Sales Director responsible for IBM’s services portfolio in State & Local Government, Education & Public Healthcare segment and Partner responsible for IBM’s US SAP State, Local and Education Practice. George has successfully delivered several complex, mission-critical transformation consulting engagements in the Public Sector which include innovative and breakthrough projects in technology, process and people transformation. Prior to joining IBM in 2000, George held senior positions with the management, business consulting and engineering practices of PSINet; Metamor; and Mott MacDonald respectively. In these roles, he was involved in global multi-million dollar engagements covering complex implementations in finance, human resources, supply chain, reengineering, process improvement, and core engineering projects.

George holds a Master’s Degree in Engineering and Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. George is a regular speaker at professional organizations and industry conferences including TEDx, World Bank and United Nations conferences.

William Michael Cunningham received his MBA in Finance and a Masters in Economics from The University of Chicago. He is currently a Capstone student advisor in the Real Estate Program at Georgetown University. A strong advocate for the integration of human values in finance, he involves clients and students in developing new ways to combine social values and investing. His professional interests include environmental, social and governance investing, socially responsible investing and community development investing, and his current projects include writing books on crowdfunding, and writing about the impact of the financial crisis on communities of color. Mr. Cunningham serves as Managing Partner for National Crowdfunding Services, and is owner of Creative Investment Research.

Michael PoiselDirector, Penn Center for Innovation Ventures, University of Pennsylvania

Michael currently manages PCI Ventures. In this role, he is actively building programs to accelerate the commercialization of Penn technology through entrepreneurial ventures. The most significant of these programs is UPSTART.

The mission of UPSTART, which he developed since joining the University of Pennsylvania in 2009, is to provide UPenn faculty and staff with the means and support to launch businesses based on their promising research. Through the creation of the companies, UPSTART focuses the faculty member on applied research and building the commercial value of the technology to their benefit as well as the university and society in general.

After the company is formed, UPSTART continues to assist in the development of the business by providing several additional entrepreneurial services including Addressable Market Analysis, Product Strategy Development, Fund Raising Assistance, Commercialization Grant Preparation and Management Team Recruitment.

In the past three years, UPSTART has initiated over 50 company projects of which many are now operating businesses.

Prior to UPenn, Michael made investments in enterprise software and business services for NewSpring Capital, Apax Partners and GE Capital spanning more than ten years in private equity. He began his career in manufacturing operations for General Electric/Lockheed Martin and participated in the successful completion of several commercial and government satellite programs.

Michael graduated with honors in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, holds an M.S. in Systems Engineering from The Moore School of Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania, and has an M.B.A. in finance and entrepreneurial management from The Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania.

Josh YuCo-Founder, UrbanLabs

Josh Yu is the North American Marketing Consultant for Taiwan Green Trade Project Office (GTPO), a government funded agency under The Ministry of Economic Affairs. His main job is to facilitate collaboration between Taiwanese companies and organizations, and companies overseas in the green space.

An entrepreneur in green technologies, Mr. Yu engages with industries ranging from biodegradable products, LED, solar, and battery storage, to information and communication technology. He helped launch Art Asia Pacific magazine in the US. He has organized international sustainability conferences for Asian Productivity Organization (APO) in Taiwan and Sustainability Summit for NJNY Minority Business Council in NYC. Currently, he is in charge of business development for UrbanLabs.

Mr. Yu holds degrees in law and fine art. He graduated from NYU Tisch School with a master’s degree in the Interactive Telecommunications Program. It was during this time at ITP that he discovered the power of media for promoting social and environmental causes.

Joaquin Aviles LopezCEO & CO-Founder, i4sd

Joaquin has more than 14 years of experience in infrastructure planning, project management and international development. He served as Director of Operations of the Millennium Villages project (MVP), a global partnership between Millennium Promise, The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the United Nations. The projects operate in several countries in sub-Saharan African, partnering with governments in the areas on public health, education, agriculture, business development and infrastructure.

Previously Mr. Aviles Lopez has worked in the Public Sector at the Department of Planning and Transport with the Government of Granada, Spain. He has also experience in the Private Sector where he worked as Project Manager in the execution of several infrastructure projects. He is currently the Director of Planning and Operations at P3 Global Management, a global smart city infrastructure company, delivering innovative solutions to help cities become more sustainable and resilient.

Mr Aviles Lopez holds a Master's Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Granada in Spain, and a MS on International and Public Affairs with focus on International Development at the New School in New York.

Jordan EngelPositive R+D

Jordan Engel is an innovation expert and a long time drone practitioner.

Jordan joined the DC Drones User Group soon after its founding in 2012. Its 2700 members are a diverse group of engineers, pilots, and policy experts that work to expand UAVs in society, including art, search and rescue, conservation, mapping, and dozens of uses more. We also look at topics like safety, and privacy that give adoption pause.

He bought his first drone soon after, and abandoned the trickier art of RC helicopter flying. This was back when drones looked less like Apple products as they do now, and more like some plumbing equipment ate too many calculators and threw up on themselves. His neighbors are the harbingers of a world in which drones hover over our backyards and outside our windows.

Much of his technology work is in aerospace, defense, and intelligence (DHS S&T, NGA, NASA, Lockheed Martin, DOD) focusing on information exchange, situational awareness, and process improvement. He also works with entrepreneurs, coaching them from good ideas to sustainable businesses. This work is both in defense (DOD Velociter), and with organizations with social and environmental impact (Clean Tech Open, Global Social Benefit Incubator).

Kendall AlmericoCEO, BankRoll Ventures LLC

Kendall Almerico is a Board Certified attorney with 25 years experience who is considered one of the top crowdfunding and JOBS Act experts in the United States. Mr. Almerico was recently called “one of the top Regulation A+ attorneys in the country by Forbes and named the 17th most influential thought leader in the crowdfunding industry by VentureBeat and was the top ranked practicing attorney on the prestigious list. Inc. magazine named Kendall to its list of “Top 19 Crowdfunding Experts Startups Need to Know.” Mr. Almerico and his crowdfunding websites have appeared in the New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Washington Times, Huffington Post, Forbes, Bloomberg, Reuters, Wired, the New York Daily News, Business Insider, Christian Science Monitor, Fox Business Network and hundreds of newspaper, blog, radio and television interviews including CNN, CNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, and Bloomberg TV. Mr. Almerico is also CEO of BankRoll Ventures LLC, who owns and operates BankRoll, an equity crowdfunding web site focused on Regulation A+ Mini IPOs and 506(c) and 506(b) private placements. Mr. Almerico is a regular crowdfunding columnist for Entrepreneur.com and a highly sought after keynote speaker on both a national and international level. Locally, Mr. Almerico practices law with DiMuro Ginsberg in the Washington DC area.

Pamela joined Merrill Lynch in 2011. She is an advocate of disciplined wealth management strategies and planning as a means of financial goal achievement. Pamela is known for her collaboration and responsiveness with clients. She also takes pride in demystifying the financial markets and implementing Social Responsibility in investing. Pamela has four children- Peter, Henry, Virginia and Smith- which in addition to her husband James, keep her busy outside of work. She can be found working in her yard in the Observatory Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC and staying active in local philanthropic endeavors especially as they pertain to her children's interests and her own undergraduate alma mater, The College of William and Mary. Pamela holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM (CFP®) certification, a designation awarded by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. and the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor SM (CRPC®) designation awarded by the College for Financial Planning.

Sejal Katherine Makheja

Sejal Makheja, high school student at The Holton-Arms School, founded The Elevator Project in 2012. The Elevator Project is an organization committed to enabling individuals to rise out of poverty through apprenticeship opportunities, vocational training, soft skills training, and a mentorship program. Sejal was inspired to create The Elevator Project when she met a man named Juan in a soup kitchen in Washington, D.C. He shared his story about what it was like living in poverty his entire life. Juan shared that the specific reason he believed employers of living-waging work would not hire him was because he had minimal education and skill attainment. It was at this moment Sejal realized that education would be the way to lift people out of poverty. After much research she formalized this theory and found the most effective forms of education to lift the financially disadvantaged out of poverty are in-field experience, vocational training, soft-skills training, and a mentorship program. Sejal tested this concept on Juan, gave him the training and certification opportunity she believed he would need to come out of poverty, and soon enough Juan received a full-time well-waging job opportunity. It was with this life-changing experience that Sejal realized lifting the financially disadvantaged was her call to action and The Elevator Project was founded. She was inspired by the quote “If you’re lucky enough to do well, it is your responsibility to send the elevator back down.” Sejal hopes that through The Elevator Project, she can one day impact her community, then a nation, and someday the entire world. By inspiring other young people and even elected officials via conferences, summits etc., Sejal Makheja is dedicated not only to encouraging everyone to aid in lifting the financially disadvantaged out of poverty, but also to getting all people to send the elevator back down in their own way.

Swetha Ramesh

Swetha Ramesh is a current senior at Langley High School interested in political science, entrepreneurship, and media arts. Actively involved in the Wharton D.C. Innovation Summit since 2015, this year she is both a member of the planning committee and a speaker.

Last summer Swetha Ramesh founded her 501(c)(3) non-profit Students for Increased Legislation on Voter Engagement through Registration (SILVER) along with four other high school students in order to advocate for automatic voter registration with a driver’s license and increased youth political involvement. As part of SILVER, Swetha has worked with Congressman Jim McDermott (WA), Congressman Don Beyer (VA), Senator Curtis Hertel (MI), Congressman Dennis Hertel (Ret. MI), and Democratic State Delegate Kathleen Murphy (VA) to engage young people in the democratic process.

Continuing her work with SILVER, Swetha was invited to participate in a panel discussion on millennial voter engagement at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics in the Kennedy School of Government along with Senator Sal DiDomenico (MA), Congressman Dennis Hertel (Ret. MI), and Dr. Wasif Syed, founder of the company Ivy League Advisor. Pursuing her interest in public service and law, Swetha interned on Capitol Hill as a Congressional Intern for Representative John Conyers (MI 13th District) where she assisted with congressional projects, drafted constituent correspondence, and prepared staff for briefings.

In her sophomore year of high school Swetha participated in The Young Entrepreneurs Global Business Plan Competition in which she led one of 11 teams from across the globe in presenting a business pitch to an esteemed panel of judges invited from a global network of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Later that year, Swetha incorporated her company BlueStream LLC., a green initiative firm based on a patent-pending (energy-saving bladeless hydroelectric micro-turbine.

Inspired by her experience in entrepreneurship, Swetha currently hosts the international television show Business World, Business Class on Global Television Network in which she shares the stories of entrepreneurs using business to effect positive changes in society with over 2.5 million viewers worldwide.

In college Swetha hopes to study Political Science or Business.

Eric McGinley

Eric McGinley believes in providing business owners with the right strategy needed for all key contingencies. As a result, he offers business owners a one-stop shop for strategizing, then implementing and monitoring business financial plans – featuring both the business assets and their liabilities. He advises new start-up CEOs and seasoned owners to help them future-proof crucial portions of their business operations. This includes business continuity plans (structuring how the company pays bills/payroll in cases of accidents to owners or key employees). He’s a skilled adviser on how to attract, retain and incentivize employees with benefit packages, and he also develops the must-have plans for channeling income to owners and their families in the event of emergencies involving the owner.

He serves a key role at First Financial's Business Strategies Group, a part of a mid-Atlantic financial services and planning company (Bethesda, MD) which serves businesses with over 200 advisors in PA, MD and VA offices. And he’s played in the Men’s Masters World Cup of Field Hockey.

Amy ChenCo-Founder, aSolar

With over 5 years experience in the renewable energy sector, Chen is the co-founder of aSolar Inc, a New York City based solar project development company that provides full services of solar renewable energy systems. The activities include project consulting, investment advisory, system design& engineering, material procurement and installation. Through her education background and connections around the globe, Chen is familiar with solar PV and renewable energy project development, and the integration of renewable technology applications for both rural and urban areas. Her green-tech exposure is widespread in North America, Asia, and Africa; including but not limited to utility scale solar farm development and investment, R&D of innovative technology, and international trading for green products.
M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia
B.S. In Electrical Engineering from Queen’s University, Kinston Canada
B.A in Economics from Queens’ University, Kingston Canada

Jacob GraySenior Director, Wharton Social Impact Initiative

Jacob Gray is the Senior Director for the Wharton Social Impact Initiative. Jacob leads the impact investing initiatives at WSII, drawing from a career in impact investing and social enterprise that began in 1999.

Jacob was a co-founder and General Partner of Murex Investments, an impact VC fund managing funds for financial institutions and high net-worth individuals. He was also a co-founder of GoodCompany Group, an incubator for high-growth social enterprises, and IC Philly, the first regional chapter of Investor’s Circle, one of the largest and oldest national networks of angel investors and professional venture capitalists. Among other roles he has served on the board of a high-growth education technology company, and previously served as Treasurer and Interim CEO of a social enterprise serving hard to employ Philadelphians.

He earned his B.A. from Brown University, and joined the WSII team in July, 2012.

Nate T. Yohannes, Esq.Senior Advisor to the Chief Investment and Innovation Officer, U.S. Small Business Administration

Nate Yohannes is an attorney with experience in financial services, regulatory affairs and investment strategy. Mr. Yohannes was appointed by President Obama as the Senior Advisor to the Chief Investment and Innovation Officer at the US Small Business Administration. As the Senior Advisor, Mr. Yohannes assists with managing the Small Business Investment Company, a $25 billion private equity/venture fund and the SBIR program, a $2.5 billion per year grant program to high gorwth domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) that has the potential for commercialization.Mr. Yohannes sits on President Obama’s Broadband Opportunity Council, a multi-agency team responsible for providing counsel to President Obama on how to advance the United States as the most broadband accessible country in the world. In addition, Yohannes held a leadership position and played a pivotal role with the first ever White House Demo Day.Mr. Yohannes regularly works with staff at the White House’s Business Council, Domestic Policy Council, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Innovation Cohort and National Economic Council on issues that directly affect high growth small businesses across the country.Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Mr. Yohannes was the Vice President - Associate General Counsel at the Money Management Institute (MMI). Earlier in his career he clerked for Chief Justice Paula Feroleto of the New York State Supreme Court. Mr. Yohannes received his JD from the University at Buffalo Law School and a BA from SUNY Geneseo and is a member of the New York State Bar.

Thomas B. Lawson is Vice President of Private Placements at Folio Institutional, a division of Foliofn Investments, in McLean, Virginia. Mr. Lawson provides legal, regulatory and strategic guidance to the development and operations of Folio’s Private Capital Network, VIA Folio, which supports transactions in unlisted securities. Mr. Lawson's expertise in securities law and financial industry regulation comes from decades of leadership in the field.

Prior to joining Folio, Mr. Lawson was Chief Counsel in the Department of Enforcement at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and Assistant Director of the Division of Enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), both in Washington, DC. He received a bachelor’s degree from Union College and a Juris Doctor degree from Hofstra University School of Law.

Jamie TerbeestFounder, Standcrafted

Jamie Terbeest, a Defense Contractor and Engineer for over 15 years, has focused his professional career on designing and deploying wireless network infrastructure for the Department of Defense. He graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree from Purdue University in 1999.

Recently, Jamie has enjoyed getting back into woodworking at a local makerspace, a hobby he learned growing up. With the prospect of a baby on the way, Jamie transitioned his home office into a nursery, which precipitated the design of a modern, wooden, wall-mounted, standing desk for his living room in early 2015. After several iterations, Jamie had a functional, manufacturable design and was eager to turn his idea into a business. Upon identification of a local manufacturer and development of a provisional patent, Jamie attempted crowdsourcing in late 2015 and then transitioned his business to an e-commerce platform in early 2016. Jamie's company called StandCrafted is now a fully operational business, selling standing desks to several customers globally and pursuing gradual growth within his market.

Marissa Levin is Founder & CEO of the leadership performance firm Successful Culture, and the Training & Education firm Information Experts. She holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resources Development & Organizational Development, is a credentialed coach certified by International Coach Federation (ICF), is certified in Instructional Systems Design, and is a Certified Mastermind Facilitator.

Marissa is a Leadership Mindset columnist for Inc. Magazine, and is an instructor & strategy coach for Inc’s online entrepreneurship education program, Inc.Edu which leads start-up entrepreneurs through an intensive business growth curriculum.

She is the author of the #1 best-selling book on advisory boards, “Built to SCALE: How Top Companies Create Breakthrough Growth Through Exceptional Advisory Boards”. The book leads businesses owners through her SCALE™ Model to strategically select, compensate, associate, & leverage advisory boards for breakthrough growth. Marissa is also SmartCEO Magazine’s syndicated columnist, penning a column entitled “Get on Board” which advises business owners how to strategically build advisory boards to fuel organizational growth.

Marissa’s 20-year entrepreneurial journey started in 1995 when she founded Information Experts, a global strategic communications and education firm, in 1995 that has served more than 15 federal agencies. Under her leadership through 2011, Information Experts won more than 90 awards for creativity & leadership, was named to the Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest Growing Companies for 2009, 2010, & 2011, and won the 2010 SmartCEO GovStar Industry Star Award.

Marissa’s passion of mentoring other leaders motivated her to launch Successful Culture in June 2011. Through Successful Culture, she applies her 20 years of experience to help leaders achieve their highest potential through leader-to-leader coaching and custom leadership training programs that she delivers to all levels of her client organizations. She equips her clients with the mindsets and skillsets needed to build exceptional organizations to engage & inspire employees, keep top-level talent, and create high-performing organizational cultures.

Dr. Floortje Blindenbach-Driessen is Founder-Director of Organizing4Innovation LLC. Her passion for innovation management and the professional service industries made her start Organizing4Innovation. As business school professor, she taught and developed courses related to innovation management and technology strategy around the globe. Her research focuses on the innovation challenges and opportunities of professional service organizations. Her work has appeared in academic journals such as Research Policy, IEEE transactions on Engineering Management, and the Journal of Product Innovation Management.

Dr. Blindenbach-Driessen championed many innovation projects while working for the Fluor Corporation and for Children’s National Medical Center. She coached professionals in their innovation endeavors in engineering firms (Tauw and Tebodin), system integrators (Fluor, CGI), consultancies (Deloitte, PWC, and IG&H), law firms (Baker&McKenzie, Loyens and Loeff, Conway), research centers (Barco and NXP), health care (Children’s National Medical Center, Mediq), and entrepreneurship programs (NSF I-Corps, DC I-corps and Accelerate DC).

Claiborne BookerCo-Founder, InAffinity Networks LLC

Claiborne has been active in investment management since 1985, working with institutional and private investors on global investment strategies. Under the aegis of his own firm and with others, Claiborne has worked with early-stage investors and entrepreneurs to raise capital and commercialize technologies and has been expanding into crowdfunding recently. He is currently in the process of registering a crowdfunding portal with the SEC and FINRA in advance of the upcoming Title III rules, which take effect in May 2016. Claiborne also co-chairs the DC chapter of the Booth Energy Network, a group of University of Chicago alumni focusing on energy and energy policy, and is active in the Booth DC Entrepreneur's Advisory Group. Claiborne has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA from St. John's College, where he serves on its Board of Visitors & Governors.

Matthew BresslerSenior Associate, TDF Ventures

Matt is a Senior Associate at TDF Ventures and brings prior experience investing in and working with startup and growth stage companies. Prior to TDF, Matt worked with GE Ventures supporting investments and strategy in intelligent environments. Matt also served as the Director of Investments for the Wharton Social Venture Fund and as an Associate for FOUNDER.org, investing and assisting early stage startups. Matt started his career as a management consultant for Oliver Wyman where he focused on growth strategy in a diverse set of industries including consumer electronics, transportation, energy, and healthcare IT.

Matt graduated cum laude with a BA in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University and earned his MBA with honors from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

W. Douglas Wendt

W. Douglas Wendt – Wendt Partners -- is an award-winning strategist who has advised growth-driven companies worldwide on launching new products, entering new markets and developing innovations that drive revenue growth. He is a Senior Partner with Wendt Partners, a strategic business growth consultancy headquartered in the Washington, D.C. region that works with CEOs in the business-to-business (B2B) market to integrate sales, marketing, strategy and leadership to achieve and sustain Next-Level Growth™.

He is an accomplished executive who integrates business acumen with a passion for communication to drive change. Doug's unique approach is made possible in part by his career background, in which he has developed the deep, cross-disciplinary expertise that is at the heart of his strategic methodology. From an enterprise perspective, Doug’s accomplishments lend themselves ideally to discussions of strategy, market positioning, leadership team development and change management.

As an executive with a career in technology and change, Doug has worked with hundreds of companies to improve strategy, processes and overall quality in areas such as customer relationship management, process automation, enterprise resource planning and supply chain management, including total quality management and integrated process management. During his career, Doug has assisted major corporations with assessment of strategies and systems to drive growth. His client roster: companies from Ahlstrom, Boeing and Hitachi, to Le Communications, Lucent and United Technologies

Doug has also worked as a consulting team partner at Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC), Ernst & Young, Deloitte and Grant Thornton. Recognizing the transformative power of strategy models, he is a recognized expert in key methodologies: from Blue Ocean Strategy to Design Thinking and Lean Startup

Doug has presented on business strategy in universities (Penn State University, the University of New Hampshire), and serves the graduate program faculty at the American University School of Communication focused on executive leadership and strategic change communication.

Kritika Singh

Kritika Singh is a malaria researcher, and the Founder and CEO of Malaria Free World, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization aimed to raise awareness about malaria and foster research. She is also a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Kritika was only 16 when she founded Malaria Free World in August 2014 after learning about the impact of this epidemic on millions of people around the world. Kritika’s efforts have been recognized in many media publications including the Huffington Post, TEDx , FOX Teen Choice Awards 2015, the Fairfax County Times, and Great Day Washington. Kritika enjoys educating students about malaria as part of her Malaria Masters program, and motivates them to start making a difference by getting involved in STEM.

Jason Van der SchyffSVP, Lock8

Jason Van der Schyff has spent the last decade in Silicon Valley building custom hardware platforms for consumer and military applications. Most notably, the world's first commercialized Bluetooth to Iridium bridge that enabled the U.S Army to transmit images and data captured in theatre on smart phones securely via satellite. In addition, he has worked with all branches of the US DoD on a variety of projects ranging from remotely deployed, satellite connected, weather monitoring, to combat diver delivery systems, hyperbaric life support systems and high accuracy GPS assisted underwater navigation platforms. Today, his focus is on nodal and peer-to-peer connectivity solutions in urban environments.

Kate has over 28 years of professional management experience that includes international operations, strategy and business development as well as strategic technical workforce planning. Her expertise focuses on building new organizations and enabling the workforce. She has been selected as a guest speaker at international conferences in Europe, Canada and the US.

As Vice President of Global Workforce Enablement for MetLife, Kate is responsible for building and implementing programs that enhance the productivity of MetLife’s technical workforce. This includes the creation of MetLife Technical University, a development program for early-in-career employees, as well as a summer technical internship program. In 2015, MetLife Technical University received three industry excellence awards. Kate is also certified in Workforce Strategy & Planning, which she uses to help internal technical organizations optimize their workforce composition, in partnership with their HR business partners.

Prior to joining MetLife, Kate spent 17 years with Cisco where she lived in Europe and the US, managing business development and sales operations organizations.

Kate holds a BA in History from Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. She attended the University of Michigan for her MBA. Kate and her husband, Stephen, own a restaurant in Raleigh, NC which reflects their passion for International travel and love of global food. Kate is also the Board Chair for Stop Hunger Now, an international hunger relief non-profit organization.

Milind has led the transformation of Cisco’s learning portfolio from a pre-dominantly Instructor-led model to a blend of live, virtual, and self-study solutions and performance support tools. Milind is a member of Cisco’s Services Portfolio Steering Committee and drives the integration strategy for Education offers in outcome based portfolio plays.

Before joining Cisco in 2007, Milind was Sr. Vice President and GM at a leading IT and Business Process Outsourcing Company. His areas of expertise include Education and Training, Outsourcing, Globalization, Workforce Development, Social Learning, Collaboration and Knowledge Management.

Milind holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Bombay University and an MBA in Systems and Marketing from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He is an active career coach and mentor and is a member of the board of advisors of the Computer Education Management Association (CEdMA) and TSIA’s Education Services Advisory Board.

Rich KochmanChief Marketing Officer, Noodle Partners

Rich is a data-driven business leader with a passion for education innovation. His early career included more than a dozen years in senior roles leading product, pricing, marketing, sales operations, and data analytics. As an executive, he now leverages this broad experience by driving sustainable and measureable growth strategies for companies and institutions that create new approaches to improving people’s lives through education.

Rich served as EVP, Marketing & Analytics at 2U, Inc. for almost four years where he played a key role in delivering 400% revenue growth and was a member of the executive team that took the company public. As Chief Marketing Officer at General Assembly, he led the organization through critical growth stages and geographic expansion. In his current role of CMO at Noodle Partners, Rich has spent the past year as a key architect of the business plan that is disrupting the traditional online program management (OPM) model. Rich also serves as an advisor for several EdTech startups and has been a featured speaker at events for i3@UNC and Google Education.

When he isn’t thinking about ways to improve the quality, accessibility, and sustainability of education, he enjoys following his favorite hockey teams, bicycling, and discovering new music. He resides in Potomac, MD with his wife, two children and loyal mutt.

Robb DoubGeneral Partner, New Markets Venture Partners

Robb Doub joined New Markets Venture Partners in 2003 and is a General Partner. Robb is the lead administrative partner and serves as a board director for eCoast Marketing, PresenceLearning and Regent Education, and is lead partner or board observer for Calvert Education, K2 Intelligence and Kroll Bond Ratings.

Robb has been investing in high growth companies since 1993. Prior to New Markets, Robb was a Managing Director of the Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF), a $300 million managed emerging market venture capital company. Robb served on the board of SEAF portfolio companies in industries including pharmaceutical distribution, cable television, internet services, food retail and distribution, biotechnology, and enterprise software. Prior to SEAF, Robb was an Associate of Private Equities at the Calvert Group, a $10 billion socially responsible mutual fund and has worked for two start-up companies. Robb was a visiting professor at the University of Warsaw’s School of Business teaching finance to MBA candidates.

Robb graduated from the University of Vermont, with a major in History, and received a MBA with Honors from the Georgetown University. Robb is married with three children.

Bryan BloomCFO, ENODO Global

Bryan Bloom is ENODO Global’s Chief Financial Officer. Bryan joined ENODO in 2015 from Barclays’ Investment Banking Division where he conducted leveraged-buyout and refinancing analyses for sponsor-targeted companies. He performed due diligence on acquisition targets to identify critical business and financial risks and create mitigants across multiple industries. Prior to Barclays, he was a Managing Consultant with IBM Global Business Services. At IBM, Bryan delivered supply chain management process improvements and acquisitions for various public sector clients.

Bryan’s passion to promote private sector driven economic development and support stability operations in underdeveloped countries was realized while assigned to the Task Force for Business (TFB) in Afghanistan. At TFB, Bryan created a leveraged, multi-sector $30mm private equity fund, structured deal-specific investments, and facilitated corporate, academic, and nongovernmental organization partnerships to create jobs and develop human capital. He advised seven local start-up companies on business operations, marketing strategies, and product development.

Bryan earned a B.A. from Colgate University with a double major in Economics and Political Science with a focus on economic development in third world countries. He earned an MBA from The Wharton School with concentrations in Finance and Management.

David CattlerNational Intelligence Manager for the Near East, Office of the Director of National Intelligence

David Cattler was appointed National Intelligence Manager for the Near East in July 2015. In this capacity, he is the Director of National Intelligence’s personal representative and leads intelligence integration, supports national security and intelligence policy, and provides oversight of intelligence community efforts for the Near East region. He has been a leader in several national, joint, and service intelligence assignments. Most recently, he directed the Defense Combating Terrorism Center at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He also has served as the Deputy Director of Intelligence in the Joint Staff, Principal Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Military Issues, and Deputy Assistant Director of Naval Intelligence. He began government service as a surface warfare officer in the US Navy.

He holds a Master of Policy Management degree from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the United States Naval Academy. He is a graduate of the National Intelligence University and the US Naval War College. He also was a senior fellow with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Seminar XXI, and has completed executive education at Harvard University, Northwestern University, and the University of North Carolina.

Odile Prevot-Mussat, JDCEO, Serge Betsen Academy

Odile Prevot is an international corporate lawyer qualified as Avocat a la Cour in France as well as Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales.

As an international lawyer for more than 17 years, Odile specialized in international mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and partnerships having worked for Graham & James, KPMG, and PwC in Sacramento, Paris and London. She has provided legal advice to multinational corporations and private equity firms in a variety of sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare, energy, transport, agriculture, defense, and consumer goods.

Today, Odile provides advice on strategic alliances, contract negotiations and legislative matters. Most recently she has been involved in international development policy, as well as capacity building for civil society organizations and small and medium enterprises.

She also runs Serge Betsen Academy, a charitable organization based in West Africa, where children are provided with medical facilities, education, as well as rugby tuition.

Odile graduated from Paris II-Assas Law School, received her LLM from McGeorge School of Law in California, and qualified with the College of Law in London. She is fluent in French, English and Spanish.

Rosemarie TrumanFounder and C.E.O., The Center for Advancing Innovation INC.

Rosemarie has 23+ years of experience in architecting growth/investment strategies and transformations that have served as the platform for more than 150 new products and an unprecedented $25 billion in profits for Fortune 100 clients having spearheaded IBM’s Innovation Strategy Practice and other prestigious strategy organizations. Rosemarie is also a serial entrepreneur; she founded and is CEO of the Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) focused on maximizing the commercial potential of high-impact, “gazelle” Federally funded inventions in order to spur entrepreneurship, bolster the economy, galvanize ecosystems and positively impact the world. At CAI, Rosemarie conceived of and realized a first-of-a-kind, award-winning challenge-accelerator program which has catalyzed the launch of 33 new startups over the last two years. For conceiving this novel model of venture philanthropy, Ms. Truman has received many awards and recognition from the White House, Health and Human Services, and features in Wired, Chicago Tribune, CBS News, Nature, Washington Post .

Rosemarie is Founder and Managing Partner at Gazelle Futures, an early stage venture capital fund that leverages access to a large portfolio of de-risked, capital efficient, late-stage inventions. Combined with CAI’s proven “Startup Challenge Accelerator,” Gazelle rapidly launches new companies and grows jobs by galvanizing and amplifying resources in under-valued, capital efficient regions. Rosemarie is also an Executive Director in the Founder’s Institute in the Washington-DC metro area plus board member for startups in high-tech, life sciences, manufacturing, and professional services. Overall, Ms. Truman has led the evaluation of over 75,000 inventions and/or growth opportunities.

Rosemarie worked globally in over 100 strategy engagements for clients, addressing ~20% of the Fortune 100. She started her career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs on the Listed Stock Block Desk upon graduating magna cum laude from Smith College where she received a full scholarship and the Samuel Bowles Prize for Economics. She earned Bachelors degrees in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Mathematics and Economics as well as two minors in Comparative Literature and French. Rosemarie also attended Oxford.

Michelle leads a geopolitical consulting practice at Ankura Consulting Group that offers strategic guidance and support to clients doing business in both stable and emerging growth markets. Through an extensive network of local "on-the-ground" advisors, partners, and affiliates, her geopolitical assessments team leverages multi-disciplinary intelligence and analytical tradecraft to help firms navigate the complex nuances of markets in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Michelle leverages her national security background, intelligence tradecraft, and broad global networks to analyze and synthesize information that reduces uncertainty in complex political landscapes and ultimately helps clients make well-informed business decisions.

Before Near Earth, Mr. Davidson was a Managing Director in the Telecom Group at Credit Suisse First Boston. Mr. Davidson’s 28 year investment banking career began in 1987 at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where he was a co-founder and Managing Director of the firm’s Space Finance Group, Wall Street’s first dedicated coverage group for the commercial satellite industry. While a member of the Space Finance Group, Mr. Davidson was an integral participant in public and private debt and equity financings totaling over $15 billion.

Hoyt is frequently asked to speak at satellite and space industry conferences on financial and investment matters. He also currently serves on the Boards of XO Markets Holding, Inc., the parent company of NanoRacks LLC, the Space Foundation, the National Space Society, the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES). He is also a past member of the Commercial Space Committee of the NASA Advisory Council.

Mr. Davidson received his Science Masters in Management (MBA) in 1987 from MIT’s Sloan School where he was awarded the Henry B. duPont III Scholarship for academic excellence. Before entering Sloan, Mr. Davidson worked as a Senior Research Engineer at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company (Sunnyvale, CA) from 1979 to 1985. Mr Davidson received a BS in Physics from MIT in 1979.

Rebecca Cooper

“Washington Business Report” creator and longtime anchor Rebecca Cooper now serves as an Executive-in¬Residence and Special Adviser to the Dean for Strategic Initiatives at the Kogod School of Business and as a faculty member at the School of Communications at American University in Washington, DC. She is also the CEO of Capital Insights LLC and RC/DC Productions, two new startups creating thought leadership forums and media programming to highlight smart conversations with smart people finding solutions.

Named by the Washington Business Journal to its inaugural “Power 100” list of the most influential people in the Washington, Maryland and Virginia business world, Cooper has spent three decades in senior positions in government and media in the nation’s capital.

Rebecca came to Washington in 1988 to serve as senior international trade assistant to Senator David Boren (D¬OK) on the Senate Finance Committee, where she helped write the legislation creating NAFTA and other major trade agreements. She went from working on Capitol Hill to covering Congress and the White House, spending ten years as a reporter and producer at NBC Nightly News, CNN and ABC News.

Cooper returned to public service to serve in the Clinton Administration as Chief of Staff to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson.

When her children were born, she decided it was time to get off airplanes and discover Washington in a whole new light as the senior national correspondent and anchor at ABC7 News, where she was able to tell the stories of inspiring newsmakers, leaders and everyday people making a difference at the local and national level. She created and anchored “Washington Business Tonight” ¬ a nightly half hour business show on Newschannel 8 that became the #1 rated show on Newschannel 8 and then the show was promoted to the ABC7 Sunday morning lineup where “Washington Business Report” became the #1 weekly Sunday morning news show on WJLA.

Rebecca is the recipient of several journalism awards, including the Peabody, DuPont, Murrow, Cable Ace and Emmy awards. As one of only a handful of reporters inside the White House on 9/11 ¬ and then taken to a secret off¬site White House ¬ Cooper was part of the ABC News team receiving numerous awards for their coverage of the terrorist attacks and the war in Afghanistan.

A member of Leadership Greater Washington, Cooper serves on the Greater Washington Area Advisory Board for Childhelp, one of the nation’s leading nonprofits dedicated to the treatment and prevention of child abuse. She is also active in numerous other national and local charities and serves as an adviser to several Washington¬based organizations focused on growing opportunities for women.

A native of Oklahoma City and member of the board at the University of Oklahoma’s College of International Studies, Rebecca is an honors graduate of Duke University and attended the Universite Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium and American University in Washington. She is the mother of three sons ¬ Max, Gus and Finn ¬ and a beloved rescue dog from the Montgomery County Humane Society.

Geoff OrazemManaging Partner at Eastern Foundry

Geoff Orazem is the CEO and Founder of Eastern Foundry, an incubator for government contractors in Crystal City VA. Geoff is a former Marine infantry platoon commander who served in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Following the Marine Corps he attended Harvard Law School after which he returned to Iraq as a Tribal Affairs officer with the Iraqi Transportation Network (ITN). Following the ITN he began working in McKinsey and Co.'s DC office as an Engagement Manager.

James QuigleyCEO & Co-Founder of Canvas

James Quigley is the CEO & Co-Founder of Canvas, a Virginia-based company that is transforming how colleagues connect with each other and interact with customers in an increasingly mobile first workplace. James has a long history of building successful wireless companies. Prior to Canvas, he was Vice President and Managing Director at inCode Wireless, which was later acquired by VeriSign. Other successful start-ups with which he has worked include Aether Systems, Orbcomm, and Peak Technologies (formerly a division of R.R. Donnelley).

James has won numerous awards for corporate leadership, including being named one of 2012’s Top 50 CEOs by the Center for Innovative Technology, one of the top 20 global executives in his field by CLO Magazine and the World Supply Chain Forum, and one of the top 15 DC start-up CEOs to follow on Twitter. In 2007, his team designed and delivered a mobile solution that was used for tracking deadly global pandemics, an application that ultimately won the Motorola Wireless Solution of the Year Award.

Mark launched and leads the HHS Buyers Club, a HHS IDEA Lab sponsored project addressing a critical problem in government, ineffective and inefficient acquisition of IT services. He also serves as Director for the Federal-wide Buyers Club and as an IT Vendor Management Specialist within the Vendor Management Office (VMO) of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. His first book, The Rooster’s Crow: Answering the Call for Innovation and Entrepreneurship across America, was published in 2013. Mark was recognized this year among the Federal 100 for playing a pivotal role in the Federal IT community. Mark received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from The University of Alabama and has lived in Washington, D.C. since April 2014.

Rich BeutelPrincipal, Cyruus Analytics, former Senior Adviser and Counsel for Acquisition Policy, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Richard Beutel is currently the Principal of Cyrrus Analytics, one of Washington’s premier boutique government market strategy and legislative advisory firms. Cyrrus Analytics focuses upon complex challenges involving cloud acquisitions and the procurement of federal IT across the government. With experience working in both the public and private sectors and bi-partisan contacts on Capitol Hill and throughout the Executive Branch, Cyrrus Analytics offers our clients multiple ways to address business critical issues.

Richard Beutel leads Cyrrus Analytics. Beutel is the former lead acquisition and procurement policy counsel for former Chairman Darrell Issa of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In that capacity, Beutel wrote and managed the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, or FITARA, which was signed into law as part of the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act.

Beutel has bicameral Congressional experience, previously serving as lead oversight and acquisition policy counsel for Senator Susan Collins, the formerly ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

Prior to his service to Chairman Issa, Rich was the General Counsel to the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Wartime Commission was a Congressionally-appointed oversight board mandated by Congress to investigate waste, fraud and abuse in government contracting practices in contingency and wartime operations. As General Counsel, Rich assisted in establishing oversight teams in Afghanistan and Iraq, which identified over $6 billion in wasteful and fraudulent spending. Many of these cases were referred to the Justice Department on a criminal referral.

A nationally recognized expert in IT acquisition management and cloud policy, Beutel has 25 years of private sector experience and was the founder and co-managing director of the first Dell Government Relations Team, working directly with Michael Dell for many years in support of Dell’s Washington policy initiatives.

Matt joined Monster in 2014 as a Manager, Talent Acquisition – Product & Technology and was responsible for managing recruitment delivery and success for the Product and Technology organizations by creating unique industry processes, implementing top-tier tools for process, and streamlining the lifecycle of hires.

Prior to joining Monster, Matt served as a Recruiter for Allscripts helping to improve recruitment delivery across multiple functions and also acted as a compliance expert for the Talent Team.

Matt is a proud veteran and served in the United States Marine Corps as an Infantryman where he held responsibilities with small unit leadership. He credits the leadership and teamwork experiences during this time as the foundation of his career success.

Satyanarayan ChandrashekharDirector, PwC Health Industries Advisory

Satty is a leader in PwC’s Strategic Technologies practice with over 19 years of consulting experience in technology strategy, implementation, and integration services that enable healthcare organizations to transform business capabilities, take out cost, position for growth, and develop competitive advantage.

His client portfolio includes globally renowned academic medical centers and specialty providers, national and regional health insurers, and top biotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations. He is passionate about building high performing multi-disciplinary teams that provide data-enabled solutions to increasingly complex challenges in healthcare.

Satty holds a Bachelors in Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, India and resides in Long Island New York.

David EaglesDirector of Presidential Transition, Partnership for Public Service

David Eagles joined the Washington, D.C. based Partnership for Public Service in 2015 as the Director of the Center for Presidential Transition leading the initiatives to assist the presidential candidates and outgoing Administration in navigating and improving the transition process, to promote presidential transition reforms with Congress, to develop management recommendations for the next administration, and to train political appointees to lead effectively.

David previously led strategic initiatives, operational transformations and major transitions spanning the private, public and political sectors most recently serving as Vice President and Chief of Staff to the CEO at Waste Management, the Fortune 200 firm. He was also a Vice President and operating executive for several private equity owned portfolio companies and a Senior Strategy and Performance Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton.

In the public sector, David was a leader for the Romney presidential transition team in 2012 and was appointed in both the Bush and Obama Administrations as the Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and as a Director for the Department of the Treasury’s financial stability efforts. He served at the senior executive service level and won the distinguished service award for his work during the housing and financial crisis.

David received a MPP in Business and Government from Harvard University and a BS in Finance from the University of Alabama.

Dr. Patrick MaloneExecutive-in-Residence, Department of Public Administration and Policy, American University

Professor Malone is the Director, Key Executive Leadership Programs and Executive-in-Residence in the School of Public Affairs, Department of Public Administration and Policy, at American University. He teaches courses in public sector leadership, executive problem solving, organizational analysis, ethics, and public administration and policy. He is a frequent guest lecturer on leadership and organizational dynamics in state and federal agencies, professional associations, and universities including the Fulbright Scholars Program and the Visiting Scholars program at Yale. He has extensive experience working with federal sector leaders from DHHS, EPA, IRS, USDA, HUD, DHS, and DoD among others. Professor Malone also regularly presents in international forums to government leaders from countries including the Republic of Vietnam, Panama, Brazil, Poland, and Belgium. His research interests and scholarship include work in public service motivation, adult learning theory, leadership, ethics, and organizational behavior. He is one of few researchers in the country certified to score the Subject/Object qualitative research methodology developed at Harvard University. Dr Malone spent twenty-two years in the Department of Defense where he served in a number of senior leadership and policy roles including as a professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; Academic Director; and Dean of Academics for Navy Medicine. His most recent publications include “Here We Go Again, Federal Leadership in a VUCA World,” “Thinking Up,” “Selfies in the Workplace: Narcissists and the Public Manager,” “Making Assumptions? Try the Power of Inquiry,” and “Enhancing Your Leadership by Tapping into Staff Attitudes.”

Tony Scott (Invited)Federal Chief Information Officer

Tony Scott is the U.S. Chief Information Officer, appointed by President Obama on February 5th, 2015. Prior to his appointment, Tony led the global information technology group at VMware Inc.Tony also served as the CIO at Microsoft and The Walt Disney Company, and as the CTO of Information Systems & Services at General Motors Corporation.He received a B.S. in information systems management from the University of San Francisco and a J.D. from Santa Clara University and has been an IT industry leader for nearly 40 years.

David ShiveGeneral Services Administration Chief Information Officer

David A. Shive is the Chief Information Officer for the U.S. General Services Administration.

Shive oversees GSA IT - formerly known as the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) - and information technology operations and budget, ensuring its alignment with agency and administration strategic objectives and priorities.

Shive joined the U.S. General Services Administration's Office of the Chief Information Officer in November 2012. Prior to being named CIO, he was the Director of the Office of Enterprise Infrastructure, responsible for the enterprise information technology infrastructure platforms and capability that support the GSA business enterprise. He was also the Acting Director of HR and FM Systems for the GSA CFO and CPO offices.

Prior to joining GSA, he served in the District of Columbia government as a Chief Information Officer. In this role, Shive had executive responsibility for agency IT operations including financial systems, security and privacy programs, internal controls and compliance, strategic planning, enterprise architecture and performance management and measurement programs and directed the transformation of enterprise systems and processes, to public/private cloud hybrid. Shive was the recipient of the 2012 Washington, D.C., CFO Meritorious Service Award.

Shive began his career at Lockheed Martin Corporation in management and consulting roles overseeing large, customer-centric, IT organizations serving state and local, federal and international government customers. He is the recipient of numerous sector awards including the 2006 State & Local Government Executive Management award and the 2003 Management Award for Transformational Technology

He holds an undergraduate degree in physics from California State University, Fresno; a master’s degree in research meteorology from the University of Maryland College Park; and a post-graduate management certificate from the Carnegie Mellon Graduate School of Industrial Management.

Joyce HunterDeputy Chief Information Officer for Policy and Planning, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Joyce Hunter is the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Policy and Planning for the Department of Agriculture and an appointee in the Obama Administration. Ms. Hunter establishes the policy framework, oversees the Departments strategic technology planning initiatives and lays the track for the future. With over 30 years’ experience in the information technology industry, Ms. Hunter has demonstrated a strong ability to build and sustain relationships with public/private stakeholders, develop and lead innovative projects and inter-agency initiatives. Ms. Hunter previously served as the CEO of Vulcan Enterprises, an IT service and strategic planning consulting organization, where she provided executive advisory services, industry and federal business intelligence, policy evaluation and analysis, business development support, business IT alignment and strategic business consulting. Ms. Hunter earned a BA from Villanova University and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, has a certificate in Emotional Intelligence, is a Wharton Fellow and has been selected by the editors of FedScoop to be included in this year's annual list of "D.C.’s Top 50 Women in Technology”.

Neeraj Bhushan, MDFounder/Chairman Benchmark Health Systems

Neeraj Bhushan MD is a board certified Internist, with 35 years of dedicated service to his patients in the Washington Metropolitan area. He served as the first Chairman of Department of Medicine at Reston Hospital Center from 1986-1987, President of the Medical Staff from 1997-2000, and member of the Board of Trustees from 1997-2003.

Dr Bhushan’s medical practice vision and keen focus on cost containment and quality of care created a value/outcome based healthcare model; which identified an indisputable correlation between obesity, diabetes and escalating healthcare costs.

In 2010, Dr Bhushan established Benchmark Health Systems to fight the epidemic of obesity and related chronic medical diseases to improve the quality of life of his patients through education, wellness counseling and tracking patient outcomes. The current healthcare system has to address population health to meet our future healthcare needs.

His deep spiritual belief of one God is attested by lifelong participation in spiritual retreats worldwide. In April 2015, he was the recipient of the Hospital Corporation of America’s Frist Humanitarian Award of Distinction.

Jisele AlterChief Operations Officer, Benchmark Health Systems, LLC

Jisele J. Alter is Chief Operations Officer (COO) for Benchmark Health Systems, LLC, a health and wellness clinic which focuses on chronic disease management, prevention and weight management. Jisele has a 35 year record of exceptional leadership and strategic vision with healthcare management services. She has lectured at the Oral Maxillofacial Surgeon (OMS) annual conferences and was President of Optimal Management Services; her own company, providing on-site consulting services to dental and medical practices nationally. Her extensive background in emergency, cardiac health and medical practice management led to Practice Administrator for one of the largest OMS medical practice in the Washington Metropolitan area.

For the last 20 years she has been the Practice Administrator for Neeraj Bhushan, MD; which in June 2014 became Benchmark Health Systems, LLC. Together with Dr. Bhushan, their success has created a major health and wellness clinic; focused on addressing Chronic Disease Management and Weight Loss Management. Their clinic has developed a strong working relationship with Ideal Protein, a “best-in-class” weight loss company to fight obesity of their patients.

Over the course of her career she has seen major changes in how health services are provided. Specifically, as it relates to the introduction of electronic medical health keeping, and regulatory requirements and impact on patients and providers alike. This has enabled her to implement streamlined business process solutions for best patient care/outcomes, cost avoidance and maximum profitability.

When not at work, she is active in Herndon Woman’ Group, an association for women that is devoted to charitable work and providing scholarships with the community. She is also actively involved in the Dulles Chamber of Commerce, serving on the Health and Wellness Committee. Some of her hobbies include playing classical piano, walking her dogs, gardening and boating.

Amita ShuklaAuthor of Enduring Edge, Founder & CEO at Vitamita

Amita Shukla is an innovator and entrepreneur focused on creating and scaling transformative innovations for human health, well-being, and potential. She is the founder and CEO of Vitamita and the author of Enduring Edge: Transforming How We Think, Create and Change. Previously, she spent close to nine years at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the world’s largest and most active venture capital firms with about $17 billion in committed capital, where she evaluated and invested in cutting edge medical innovations and worked closely with scientists, physicians, and entrepreneurs to build new healthcare companies. Earlier, she was the vice president of AmiKa Corp., a biomedical technology company where she developed and commercialized novel research tools–for which she holds 10 issued patents–until its acquisition by Harvard Bioscience (BIO).

Amita regularly mentors startups, advises organizations, and speaks to audiences of innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders in industry, academia, and government. In 2010, she was Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s youngest appointee to the board of the Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), a national leader in seed/early-stage investing. She was reappointed by Governor Larry Hogan in 2015. Amita previously served on the Johns Hopkins Medicine Alliance for Science and Technology Development and as a Mentor in Residence at Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures to help the institution’s researchers and physicians realize the potential of their groundbreaking discoveries. Amita currently serves on the board of Bethesda Green, as a founding board member of the Global Liver Institute, and on the Life Science Council at Springboard. She holds a BA in biochemistry from Harvard, where she was a senior editor at the Harvard Crimson, and an MBA from Stanford, where she led a team that won the university-wide Stanford business plan competition for a novel cardiovascular device.

Keith BarberAssociate Partner OG Systems

Keith Barber is an Associate Partner with OGSystems (OGS) with over thirty years of military and government experience deploying and supporting combat operations, developing and deploying capabilities, developing and implementing transformational strategies. Keith's key strengths include evaluating and developing organizational culture, developing and implementing strategic plans, architectural development and implementation, and strategic planning and programming. Keith began his military career as an enlisted sailor transitioned to civil service and reached the senior executive service. At OGSystems, Keith has lead the development of JIVANGO (www.jivango.com), as well as coordinating and evaluating developing opportunities in expanding markets. Keith lives in Springfield with his wife Amy and has two children, Kilian, currently serving in the US Army and Erin.

Mark GazitChief Executive Officer of ThetaRay

Mark Gazit, a renown global cyber security innovator, currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of ThetaRay, a transformational advanced analytics company providing a big data analytics platform to enable financial institutions and critical infrastructure to uncover unknown threats and opportunities. Mr. Gazit has over two decades of experience in the high tech industry fostering innovation, with a proven track record of maximizing revenue, net earnings, and shareholder value for start--‐up, turnaround, and global rapid--‐growth organizations in emerging markets and economies. Before joining ThetaRay as CEO, Mr. Gazit served as a General Manager of Nice Cyber & Intelligence Solutions, an autonomous division of Nice Systems Ltd. that provides software and hardware solutions to government agencies worldwide in the areas of Information Intelligence, Cyber and Safe Cities. He transformed this division into a fast growing, profitable revenue generator. Between 2002 and 2010, Mr. Gazit served as CEO & co--‐founder of SkyVision, a global telecommunications company that he took from the start--‐up stage to a $100M company serving over 50 countries worldwide and operation centers on three continents. He has also held pivotal roles in leading companies such as Deltathree, NetVision, NetMedia and Widecom. Mr. Gazit studied Computer Science and Mathematics at Hebrew University and Senior Business Management at Tel Aviv University; In addition, he attended executive leadership programs at HBS, LBS and TAU.

Michael PozmantierProgram Manager for Transition to Practice in the Cyber Security Division within the Science and Technology Directorate of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS S&T)

Michael Pozmantier is the Program Manager for Transition to Practice in the Cyber Security Division within the Science and Technology Directorate of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS S&T). The Transition to Practice Program works to transition federally funded cybersecurity research to broad utilization through partnerships and commercialization in order to strengthen the cybersecurity of the nation. To date, TTP has enabled five licensing deals resulting in the creation three startups and two technologies being incorporated into product or service offerings for existing companies.

Prior to managing the Transition to Practice Program, Michael worked in the DHS S&T OCIO for eight years and at the Department of Veterans Affairs for two years. During this time, he was responsible for managing network development and deployment projects, software re-engineering projects, data center consolidations, cybersecurity pilots and an inter-departmental information sharing initiative for the care of Wounded Warriors.

Michael graduated from University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Government.

Matt ThompsonVice President, Security, Xcelerate Solutions

As Xcelerate’s Vice President of Strategic Solutions, Matt Thompson develops and manages Xcelerate’s overall portfolio of security-related business, and contributes to its overall corporate strategy. Matt is an industry-recognized thought leader in Identity and Security Management and currently serves as Chair of the Management Council of the Identity Ecosystem Steering Group, a public-private sector collaboration to promote secure, user-friendly ways to give individuals and organizations confidence in their online interactions.

A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and Harvard Business School, Matt is a proven business leader, a successful entrepreneur, and a decorated combat veteran. He served as an Army Ranger, completing four deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Matt’s professional experience includes positions at McKinsey & Company and Goldman Sachs. In 2010, Matt co-founded ID.me, an identity management software company recognized as one of the “100 Brilliant Companies” by Entrepreneur Magazine in 2014.

Matt serves as a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Audit Committee for the largest homeless veterans support organization in the country. In this capacity, Matt works directly with the CEO on strategic initiatives in the area of preventive services and care for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans.

Richard McKinney is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). He was sworn into office on May 13, 2013.

Richard served most recently as a Senior Fellow for the Center for Digital Government. From 2005 to 2011, he was the Government Technology Advisor for Microsoft’s State and Local Government division. Richard served from 1999 to 2005 as Chief Information Officer for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, a consolidated city/county government. In Nashville, Richard led the Department of Information Technology Services from a “last place” ranking in the 1999 Governing Magazine “Grading the Cities” survey to a top ten finish in the Center for Digital Government annual “Digital Cities” survey starting in 2003. Nashville remained in the top ten ranking for six straight years. Prior to working for Nashville city government, Richard was the Director of Information Services for the Tennessee General Assembly from 1995 to 1999. He served as Assistant Commissioner of Administration for the State of Tennessee Department of General Services from 1987 to 1995.

Richard holds both a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree from Tennessee State University. Richard is married and the proud father of five children and five grandchildren. In his spare time, he is an avid landscape and nature photographer.

Stephen DemczukCEO, Raven Beer

Stephen Demczuk, Ph.D., is from Baltimore, and graduated from the University of Maryland. He then received a MS in Cellular Biology at Long Island University and PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from University of Oklahoma. During his post-doctorate work at University of Geneva, Switzerland, and as visiting scientist at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, he became interested in beer.

But it was in Luxembourg where Stephen left the world of science to settle in Belgium, and then build a brewery in that nation and establish the first beer-of-the-month beer club in Europe, Beer Around the World. It was there that he met Wolfgang Stark of Haus der 131 Biere and partnered up to form RavenBeer and brew the American literary themed “The Raven Special Lager in Germany.”

Stephen returned to Baltimore to build a brewery and to establish the Edgar Allan Poe brands. From that base, he is currently working on brewing and exporting his beers in other countries overseas while working on a German beer garden and creating a merchandise company based on the cartoon caricature of Poe— Poe Creations. In 2015, one of his styles of beer named The Cask, a double-bock, won Gold in the 10th Annual Maryland Craft Beer Competition.

Svetoslav GatchevPartner, Delphos International

Svetoslav Gatchev is partner at Delphos International, a DC-based project finance advisory boutique. He has over seventeen years of experience in project and structured trade finance in emerging markets. Mr. Gatchev has assisted multiple US and international sponsors and has participated in the design and arrangement of innovative structured trade and project finance solutions for landmark transactions in a variety of industries and countries. Mr. Gatchev has developed particular expertise in arranging long-term, limited-recourse financing for private investments in renewable and conventional energy, telecommunications, and other infrastructure projects in emerging markets, utilizing development finance institutions (IFC, OPIC, etc.), export credit agencies (Ex-Im Bank etc.), and political risk insurers (OPIC, MIGA, etc.) in conjunction with commercial sources of funding. Mr. Gatchev has advised on multiple closed power projects, including award-winning thermal power transactions in Bulgaria, Botswana and Argentina, multiple PV solar transactions in India, wind in the Dominican Republic, and a series of hydropower projects in Panama. Mr. Gatchev has advised the U.S. Export-Import Bank and foreign governments under USTDA and USAID-funded mandates. He earned an executive MBA (class valedictorian) from NYU’s Stern School of Business. He holds Series 7 and Series 63 FINRA licenses.

Jeff Goldstein, PhDCenter Director for the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education

Dr. Jeff Goldstein, the Center Director for the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, is a nationally recognized STEM and science educator and astrophysicist. As Center Director, Goldstein is responsible for the creation and delivery of national initiatives addressing STEM education, with a focus on Earth and space. This includes student experiments conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) through the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP). It is a commercial space venture that has formally engaged over 62,000 students across the U.S. and Canada in microgravity experiment design and proposal writing. There are currently 25 experiments on ISS, launched on SpaceX CRS-8 on April 8, 2016. Goldstein’s planetary science research includes the development of techniques for the measurement of global winds on other planets using large telescopes on Earth. He received his B.A. in physics from City University of New York and both his M.S. and Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Anna Consani

Anna Consani joined the Springboard team in August 2014 to manage the large community that influences, invests and supports the Springboard ecosystem. As Community Manager, Anna incorporates online tools and in-person networking to build strong business collaborations and enhance visibility of Springboard portfolio companies and the women who lead them. She is lead on Springboard’s involvement in Sprockit, an initiative by the National Association of Broadcasters to highlight the top emerging media startups and also manages the Springboard Dolphin Tank program, a friendly feedback session for entrepreneurs to pitch and receive immediate feedback, resources and connections. Prior to Springboard, Anna worked for Members of Congress in both Washington, DC and California offices and has experience in corporate sales at a women-led California based gourmet gift basket company. Originally from the San Francisco Bay area, Anna holds a B.A in Political Science/International Affairs and minor in Sociology from California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

Adam Trexler

ADAM TREXLER, PhD is CEO of Valaurum, Inc., which sells the smallest verifiable unit of gold available on the world market; the Aurum®. Adam graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Maryland, and obtained his MA with Distinction and PhD from Queen Mary, University of London. Before his academic career, Adam was a vice president of Corporate Finance, Inc., where he implemented corporate structuring for early-stage companies

Jeffrey Hausfeld, M.D., M.B.A., F.A.C.S., has served on the national board and committees of specialty medical societies since he began his practice in Otolaryngology/Facial Plastic Surgery in 1982. He is an Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery at George Washington University School of Health Sciences and an alumnus of the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Hausfeld is widely published in the medical literature, is the pioneer of innovative laser surgery techniques, is the author of a lay oriented medical book, and has appeared on numerous local and national television and radio shows as a medical expert. He has also served as a health care consultant, spokesperson, and executive coach for multi-national pharmaceutical companies, health care firms, as well as the U.S. military. Dr. Hausfeld stepped down from his clinical duties after receiving a Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Hausfeld is presently developing assisted living facilities specializing in Alzheimer's and dementia care. He serves as a consultant to several healthcare/life science startups in diagnostics, devices, biotech and Health IT. He is the Managing Director of FMS Financial Solutions, a national debt collection and debt acquisition firm specializing in medical and multi-family housing debt collection. He also serves on the Investment Advisory Board of the Center for Innovation Technology's Life Science Gap Fund. The fund supports promising healthcare and life sciences ventures in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Dr. Hausfeld is the Chairman and Founder of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs (www.sopenet.org ), a global network focused on educating healthcare and life science professionals in Bioentrepreneurship and Innovation. Dr. Hausfeld recently orchestrated the oversubscribed Series A Financing of BioFactura and acted as the lead investor in this round. He will serve as Chairman of the Board of BioFactura as well as their Chief Medical Officer as the company develops its Biosimilar platform.

Marcia Hale

Marcia Hale is President of Building America’s Future - a non-partisan, national infrastructure coalition co-chaired by Mike Bloomberg, Ed Rendell and Ray LaHood. Prior to this, Ms. Hale served as a Managing Director for McKenna Long and Aldridge, an international law firm in Washington, DC, where she has advised numerous organizations including the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Google. Ms. Hale has a distinguished record of leadership in government, national political campaigns, and the private sector. During the Clinton administration, Ms. Hale served as Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House. In this capacity, she was responsible for coordinating policy initiatives and political outreach involving state and local elected officials. Following her work in the Clinton Administration she worked for the Monsanto Corporation where she established a permanent office for the company in London and worked on trade issues in both the U.K. and Brussels. Ms. Hale is a native of South Carolina and received a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Master’s of Public Administration from the University of South Carolina. In 2014 she received the University’s College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumnae Award.

Chad AndersonManaging Director, Space Angels Network

Chad Anderson is Managing Director of Space Angels Network, where he has facilitated millions of dollars of private investment into new commercial space ventures. He is also Non-Executive Director of the UK Space Catapult, where he supports the national strategy to grow the space sector in the country. Prior to his current roles, Anderson enjoyed a successful career at JP Morgan Chase where he managed a $50 billion real estate portfolio through the Great Recession. He is a prominent advocate of the private space industry with numerous public speaking appearances, interviews, and papers on the subject, including publications in Space Policy Journal, the first-ever market assessment for commercial lunar services, and the economic case for a UK spaceport. Anderson holds an MBA from the University of Oxford.

Jason HiteVice President, Xcelerate Solutions

As Xcelerate’s Vice President of Human Capital Management, Jason Hite provides leadership for all of the organization’s workforce related activities. In this role, Jason leads a team of dedicated human resources professionals providing a range of services including workforce planning, compensation and benefits, employee relations, and training and development. Jason’s mission, and the foundation of all Xcelerate human capital activities, is to ensure the best possible “Xcelerate Experience” for all employees.

Over the last 15 years, Jason has served in human capital roles across various industries, including the Federal Government, non-profit, hospitality/tourism, and management consulting organizations. In his previous role, Jason served as Chief Human Resources Officer at the U.S. House of Representatives, under the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). Jason led a portfolio of human capital services (House Learning Center, Office of Employee Assistance, House Wounded Warrior Program, and CAO Human Resources) supporting the Members, House Officers, and staff. Jason also has demonstrated expertise in Strategic Planning, Audits, Risk Management, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery, and Project Management.

Jason holds a B.S. in Management from St. Francis University (Loretto, PA), M.S. in Human Resources Management from Edinburgh Napier University (Edinburgh, Scotland) and is currently completing his Doctorate in Business Administration with Edinburgh Napier University. He is also certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources Management (SPHR) and SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).

Kirsten Brecht BakerCEO and Co-Founder at Global Professional Search Inc

Kirsten Brecht Baker has 15 years of experience in developing companies and innovative business models to meet market demand. She has accumulated a diverse background in strategy, operations, fundraising, marketing and business development working with companies from start-up to Fortune 50 status. Mrs. Baker is currently CEO and Co-Founder of Global Professional Search, a tech company connecting global employers with candidates who have and foreign language and overseas experience, in addition to their industry skills. Prior to GPS, Mrs. Baker co-founded four other start-up companies focused on technology, multiculturalism, and global markets, serving as CEO for two of them. Mrs. Baker worked as a senior consultant for Monitor Company (now Deloitte) and also served as the Chief Officer for Marketing and New Markets for American Councils– an international non-profit organization focused on language immersion and multiculturalism in over 80 countries. She holds an MBA in entrepreneurial management and marketing from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, and a BA in political science and Russian from the University of Pennsylvania.

Soraya Correa was appointed as the Department of Homeland Security’s Chief Procurement Officer in January 2015. Ms. Correa provides leadership, policy, oversight, support and professional workforce development for the DHS contracting workforce of approximately 1,500 individuals including the nine operational contracting activities, each of which is led by a Head of Contracting Activity supporting the DHS Components. As the Senior Procurement Executive she also oversees a centralized certification and training program for the DHS acquisition workforce and assists the Chief Acquisition Officer in managing major acquisition programs ensuring each has a sound acquisition strategy, conforms to the Secretary’s Unity of Effort initiative, and fully supports DHS mission needs.

Prior to being appointed as the DHS Chief Procurement Officer, Ms. Correa served as the Associate Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Enterprise Services Directorate and was responsible for delivering identity, immigration status, and employment authorization information in support of the USCIS mission. She joined USCIS in January 2011 as the first Deputy Associate Director of the Management Directorate, where she led key management and infrastructure services to support the USCIS mission. In that role, Ms. Correa was responsible for the Offices of the Chief Financial Officer, Information Technology, Human Capital and Training, Contracting, Administration, Intake and Document Production, Equal Opportunity and Inclusion, and Security and Integrity.

Ms. Correa has held key leadership positions at several Federal agencies including the Naval Sea Systems Command, General Services Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Immigration and Naturalization Service , Department of Homeland Security Headquarters and USCIS. Before joining USCIS, Ms. Correa served as the Executive Director of the DHS Office of Procurement Operations and the Director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Procurement.

Ms. Correa has an undergraduate certificate in Acquisitions Management from The American University in Washington, D. C. and a B.A. in Management from National–Louis University.

Mike HowellSenior Director, Institute for Innovation and Special Projects

Michael Howell joined ACT-IAC in September 2015 as Senior Director for the Institute for Innovation and Special Projects. He is responsible for oversight, coordination, and management of the Institute’s portfolio of projects and the annual Igniting Innovation Showcase and Awards event.

Prior to joining ACT-IAC, Mike was Deputy Program Manager at the Office of the Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment with government-wide responsibility for planning, overseeing, and managing terrorism-related information sharing. Previously, he was the Deputy Administrator for E-Government and IT at OMB where he was responsible for overseeing IT policy, management, and budget for the Federal government. He supported the 2008 Presidential transition and implementation of management reforms and new initiatives to improve IT management, open the government by enhancing transparency and citizen engagement, and improve cybersecurity. Mike was the CIO for the Department of the Interior, the CIO for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the acting CIO and deputy CIO for the Bureau of Land Management. He completed the Chief Information Officer Certificate program at the National Defense University IRM College and holds the Certified Information System Security Professional certificate.

William BryanPresident, ValueBridge Energy Group

Mr. Bryan, armed with the passion to bring energy solutions to those most in need, co-founded VB Energy Group. Energy is core to establishing sustainable and democratic societies worldwide through developing socially conscience leaders and training an organic work force capable of building and sustaining economic growth for themselves, the community and their host nation. Empowering people through energy solutions that are tailorable, innovative and outcome-focused is what the VEG Team delivers to both developed and developing societies. In his final year as a Senior Executive with the U.S. Department of Energy, Mr. Bryan served as the Senior Advisor for Energy Infrastructure Security in the Office of International Affairs (IA). IA responds to the most pressing global energy challenges, ranging from energy security and market volatility to impacts from climate change. With his primary focus on Ukraine, Mr. Bryan led several international delegations to assist Ukraine in seeking energy solutions to survive the winter months and actions necessary to achieve Energy Sector reforms in five years. He holds a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the Joint Military Intelligence College in Washington D.C. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Logistics Systems Management (Summa Cum Laude) from Colorado Technical University in Colorado Springs, CO.

Scott KolberCEO, Roadify

Scott Kolber is CEO of Roadify, a data platform and mobile application for transit information. Roadify makes it easy for people to find out when their bus, train, subway, etc is coming and why it’s late if it’s not there. Roadify distributes this content via its own mobile apps, to 3rd party apps and websites via API, and to public signage. Scott’s background is in marketing and business development for content and technology. At Viacom, he marketed television programming and helped develop MTV’s global satellite distribution. At Loral Space and Communications, Scott expanded satellite services internationally. And he introduced Linkstorm’s innovative on-line advertising technology to advertisers and publishers. Scott has a BA from the University of Virginia in International Relations.

Jeremy SpauldingPrincipal, JMS Innovation and Strategy

Jeremy Spaulding is an Independent Advisor for user experience (UX) strategy and architecture with a focus on emerging business sectors, connected vehicles, and smart infrastructure. He combines deep technical development with business innovation to create new initiatives based on human needs and user-centered design principles. Jeremy is passionate about new technologies that push the boundaries of convention and he has been able to successfully bridge technology development with artistic thought leadership. With a keen understanding of user psychology, count on Jeremy to find solutions to complex problems. He has held research, development, leadership, and design roles in several industries as well as academia, with key roles at General Motors, OnStar, SAS, OSRAM Sylvania, MedStar, and Virginia Tech. While at OSRAM Sylvania, Jeremy founded and led an innoventure on the development and marketization of a lighting solution combing interactive media-based advertising with smart lighting technologies for the future retail experience. He has had a hand in vehicle design, wireless solutions, advanced gesture and speech-based systems, and intelligent vehicle technologies. He possesses a MS in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech. He enjoys sailing and spent his high school years in Ankara, Turkey where he picked up snowboarding and an adventurous spirit for exploring Greco-Roman history and ancient civilizations.

Adam MadlinSenior Program Manager, Symantec

Adam Madlin is the Federal Identity and Information Protection Practice Manager and Solutions leader for Strategic Programs for the US Public Sector at Symantec. In this role, he is responsible for identity management strategy and business development for Symantec’s Public Sector business as well as the government policy expert for Symantec. He represents Symantec in numerous federal government policy groups and industry working groups and is also a lead for the company in certifications and compliance with expertise in the area of FICAM and FedRAMP certifications. He is Symantec’s relationship manager for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and is responsible for Symantec’s partnership with the NIST National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCOE) which is focused on developing practice guides for commercial cybersecurity and identity solutions. Mr. Madlin previously led strategic client identity and cybersecurity programs for Symantec’s US Federal and State customers including CMS, VA, FAA, FBI, NIST, GSA, and others in which he has developed significant practical experience managing, deploying and securing government identity systems. He is a subject matter expert in identity management and Symantec’s solutions and serves as Symantec’s representative on the Identity Ecosystem Steering Group (IDESG) that is tasked with driving the president’s NSTIC strategy. He currently serves as an IDESG Director and Management Council member since 2014. He served as the Chairman of the IDESG Security Committee from 2013 through 2015, and in this capacity was responsible for leading the development of key components of the overall identity ecosystem framework. Prior to Symantec, Mr. Madlin worked in enterprise software services leadership roles at JDA Software, Life Technologies, and Agile Software (now Oracle). Madlin holds a BSEE from Duke University, an MSEE from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the University of Rochester. He currently holds PMP and CISSP certification.

In 2004, Tom Weithman formed CIT GAP Funds, a family of seed and early-stage venture funds focused on making equity investments in the Commonwealth of Virginia’s most promising tech, life science and clean tech companies. Weithman manages all day-to-day fund operations, investment strategy, and portfolio management activity for CIT GAP Funds.

Through CIT GAP Funds, Weithman's team has invested more than $16M in more than 120 start-ups, attracting more than $275M of private funding into portfolio companies, driving multiple companies to downstream venture and angel financings and realizing several portfolio company exits. CIT GAP Funds has been acknowledged in regional and national media as one of the venture capital industry’s leading early stage investment funds.

Building on the success of CIT GAP Funds, Weithman helped found the MACH37 Cyber Accelerator in 2013. The nation’s first accelerator focused purely on cyber security, MACH37 offers development services to 12-14 globally-sourced information security companies each year. MACH37 accelerates the path to market for these companies through a structured program of company formation, seed investment investment and strategic mentorship and guidance.

Weithman brings to CIT GAP Funds and MACH37 a strong prior executive experience in sales, business development, and operations with IBM and Hughes Electronics and has raised over $100M in funding for numerous early stage technology companies. In addition to advisory roles with a number of portfolio companies, Weithman is a past Director of the Virginia Tech Intellectual Property Foundation. In 2008, Weithman was recognized as among the “25 Most Influential People in the Southeast Technology Community” by TechJournal South.

Weithman holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, an MBA from Michigan State University and a Master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and has served as a Visiting Fellow at Georgetown School of Public Policy.

Steve O’KeeffeFounder, Meritalk

With more than 20 years’ experience in the government IT community, Steve O’Keeffe has worked in both government and industry. He is the founder of MeriTalk and a fixture as an expert witness on Capitol Hill, testifying on government IT and workforce issues. Steve is a member of the USO-Metro and the Congressional Cloud Computing Caucus.

Brittany HeydManaging Director and General Counsel at 1776

Brittany Heyd is Managing Director and General Counsel at 1776 and also a Partner of the 1776 Seed Fund. As part of 1776's founding team, Brittany has been a critical part of taking the organization from inception of idea to initial execution to scaling into the global brand it is today. She currently leads the incubator, campus, and Challenge Cup teams, setting direction for the company's main operational components and driving value for startups around the world.

Before 1776, Brittany worked on business community initiatives and outreach at the White House, led event strategy for Startup DC, and held positions at Latham & Watkins, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and Mark IV Capital. Brittany holds a Juris Doctor / Masters of Public Policy from Georgetown University and a Bachelor's of Arts from the University of San Diego, and is also licensed to practice law in the State of Maryland.

Robert KatzExecutive Director, Innovation Intelligence Institute

Robert Katz, a global cyber-innovator, business-builder, and rocket-scientist, pioneered many game-changing systems commonplace today. These include the world’s first systems for the Internet of Things (IoT), GPS tracking, wireless messaging, Internet email, and drone-based WMD detection.

Later, he led numerous cyber, national, and homeland security C4ISR initiatives, including for MIT, NRL, NASA, JHU/APL, CIA, NGA, FBI, DEA, DHS, NIST, NOAA, plus the Departments of State, Transportation, Justice, and Treasury. For these, he headed teams for major integrators, such as Booz Allen, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin.

As an international thought leader on innovation, cyber, smart cities, and autonomous systems, Robert delivers strategic guidance to both established multinationals and emerging start-ups alike. He enjoys galvanizing all parties for critical infrastructure protection, and the corresponding emergency response.

After securing undergraduate Physics, Mathematic, and Computer Science degrees, he continued with Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering graduate research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. There he merged artificial intelligence, neural networks, and robotics to design what become the first autonomous vehicle, the Mars Rover.

After hours, Robert continues protecting his community as a firefighter-paramedic responder and instructor, as a dive and swiftwater rescuer, and as an emergency medicine professor.

His forthcoming Innovation Nation™ book series invokes neuroscience to infuse his unique SOLUTIONEERing™ suite methodologies and to spur People-Powered-Innovation™. Robert’s international non-profit think tank, the Innovation Intelligence Institute, remains at the forefront of forging public-private-pupil-platform partnerships – all to increase the security of the local, national, and international communities that he proudly serves.

Lesley FieldDeputy Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy

Lesley Anne Field is the Deputy Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Executive Office of the President, and has served as the Acting Administrator periodically since 2008. Her office is responsible for developing and implementing government wide regulations and policies to support $450 billion in federal contracting each year, and she leads initiatives to strengthen the acquisition workforce, leverage the government’s buying power, and improve transparency. Prior to joining OMB, Lesley served at the U.S. Department of Transportation as a contracting officer and policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary.

Lesley is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and a 2008 winner of the Fed 100 Award. She received her Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the University of Virginia, her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Virginia Tech, and she completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Peter MarquezVice President, Global Engagement, Planetary Resources

Mr. Marquez served as the space policy advisor to two Presidents and has an extensive background in civil and national security space activities of the U.S.
Marquez served as the Director of Space Policy for Presidents Bush and Obama. He was responsible for the development and execution of U.S. national space policy. He also held positions in the acquisition, requirements and policy fields of U.S. national security space programs. Peter graduated from George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute with a master’s degree in Science and Technology Policy.

At Planetary Resources, Mr. Marquez works with the U.S. Government and the international community on domestic and global opportunities that will assist Planetary Resources in achieving its long-term mission.

2016 Sponsors

2016 Strategic Partners

2016 Media Partners

2016 Committee

Alan N. Schlaifer

President and Chairman, Wharton Club of DC

Ali Qureshi

Vice President, Xcelerate Solutions

Jean-Francois Orsini, Ph.D.

Chairman, Wharton Club of DC

Jason L. Stern

Founder and CEO, Braddock Communications, Inc.

Ruwan Salgado

Managing Director of Strat8gy

Iman Rehmatullah

Lee Dudka

Senior Adviser, SyTrue

Tom Glendening

CEO, E3think

Joon Shin

Entrepreneur & Board Director for Several Companies

Jill Melnicki

Social Innovation Consulting

Kim Hall

Joyce Hunter

Deputy Chief Information Officer for Policy and Planning, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Linda Walters

Online Communications Consultant

Alan N. SchlaiferPresident and Chairman, Wharton Club of DC

Alan is the Summit Chair and Club President of the Wharton Club of Washington, DC, of which he has been a member for over 30 years. His dedication to the School and the Club resulted in his becoming a recipient in 2005 of the Club’s Joseph Wharton Award and Wharton’s Distinguished Alumni Service Award. Alan has built a team of fellow alumni to drive membership, programs, benefits, career efforts and embassy programs to new levels on behalf of his fellow alumni, the School and the University.During his tenure, the Club has had 11 annual conferences, including the two Innovation Summits, that have been among the most successful programs run by any of the more than 70 clubs in the global Wharton Alumni Network of over 92,000 alumni. Membership has risen sharply during that period and is among the highest of all Wharton Clubs. Our Club has recorded many firsts in the Wharton Alumni Network, such as its Joseph Wharton Award Dinner (with the 45th coming this Fall), and a mobile app (for the two Wharton DC Innovation Summits).Alan is an accomplished business attorney whose career has been split between private practice and public service. He received a Distinguished Service Award for his decade of service as a Senior Trial Attorney at the Federal Trade Commission. He is co-editor of The Law and Business of Resort Development and a prolific writer, with over 280 published articles on business and legal issues.A cum laude graduate of Wharton, Alan was elected president of the School’s Beta Gamma Sigma Honorary Society chapter and selected for the Dean’s Student Advisory Council. He earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and has been an officer of his Harvard Law School class since he graduated, as well as a past officer of the Harvard Club of DC.

Ali QureshiVice President, Xcelerate Solutions

As Xcelerate’s Vice President of Consulting Services, Ali Qureshi is responsible for the organization, development, and management of Xcelerate’s greatest assets, our delivery personnel. Ali brings nearly two decades of experience assisting Federal Government and commercial clients in meeting their technology services needs through innovative solutions.

Prior to joining Xcelerate, Ali held leadership positions in a number of healthcare technology companies serving Federal, private, and international customers. Ali also served eight years in the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer for the U.S. House of Representatives. As the Senior Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, he managed House operations and maintained direct oversight of House Information Resources, Administrative and Financial Services, Strategic Initiatives and Assets, and Furnishings and Logistics, overseeing a staff of more than 1,800. Ali also served as the House’s Director of Advanced Business Solutions with oversight of all financial, business support, and web applications.

Prior to joining the Federal Government, Ali had a successful consulting career supporting projects that focused on environmental policy, telecommunications, strategic sourcing, and healthcare with Booz Allen Hamilton and Accenture.
Ali holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from Wilkes University and an Executive Master’s Degree from the Wharton School and School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the Wharton DC Club’s Vice President for Programs and the Program Chair for the Annual Wharton DC Innovation Summit. The Innovation Summit is a premier regional event that aggregates innovation thought leaders, practitioners, funding institutions, and policy advisors from the private, public, academic and non-profit sector.

Jean-Francois Orsini, Ph.D.Chairman, Wharton Club of DC

Born in Vietnam and raised in Morocco, France and Monaco, Jean-Francois Orsini has earned both his MBA and Ph.D. from Wharton. He also graduated from one of the 3 best business schools in France, ESCP Europe. In former activities he was involved in Investment Finance, Real Estate, Business Ethics, Management training and Strategy, he is now about to start a new venture in Corporate Health Management bringing to companies a tool to cut in half the incidence of chronic diseases and slashing their employees’ health insurance costs. As a lobby, he teaches MBA level courses in Washington DC universities. He is the chairman of the Wharton School Club of Washington DC. He is a Third Order Dominican in the Catholic Church; he was prior of his chapter for two terms. He is a Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. He has 6 daughters

Jason L. SternFounder and CEO, Braddock Communications, Inc.

Jason L. Stern is the founder and CEO of Braddock Communications, Inc., which specializes in publishing creative business, governmental, and educational references for the public and private sectors. Braddock Communications primarily publishes corporate-sponsored guides for co-branding organizations in its network of selected business associations.Braddock’s recent publications include special editions of Communicate with Your Elected Officials (series), Braddock’s The Winning Edge: How Government and Corporate Buyers Select a Small Business Supplier • 2014 Edition, Braddock’s The World Is Your Market: Exporting Made Easier for Small Businesses (series), and Braddock’s Procurement Opportunities Guide (series).

Ruwan SalgadoManaging Director of Strat8gy

Ruwan Salgado is Managing Director of Strat8gy International, LLC, an international management consultancy, and a Partner at Sino America Investment Partners, a new venture seeking to assist Chinese companies with investing in the United States. He has significant international management consulting experience and expertise in business development, project management, operations, financial management and analysis, and strategic planning. As a management consultant in and outside of the U.S., Mr. Salgado has worked with senior government officials and corporate executives in a wide range of industries including oil, mining, healthcare, law, finance/capital markets, education and agribusiness.Mr. Salgado has served in general management, strategic planning, business development, operations and finance roles with both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Early in his career, he gained experience in venture capital at Calvert Ventures, which established the first socially responsible venture capital fund, helping to manage its portfolio companies and identify and assess new investment opportunities.More recently, Mr. Salgado has served as the Interim Chief Financial Officer of a Washington, D.C.-based law firm that he operationally and financially restructured and assisted in selling to another law firm. He also served for several years as the Executive Director of World Links, an internationally award winning (e.g., from the World Economic Forum etc.) and innovative spin-off from The World Bank that focused on leveraging information and communications technology to improve global education. While at World Links, he spoke on educational technology at international conferences in Africa, Asia and the U.S.A.Mr. Salgado served for over a decade (until February 2011) as the President of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni club in the Washington, D.C. area and was co-founder and co-Chair of its Entrepreneurs’ Advisory Group, which provides monthly pro bono advise to Washington, DC area entrepreneurs.Mr. Salgado has an M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from the University of Chicago (U.S.A.) and an M.Phil. in Economics from Oxford University (U.K.). He received both a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Engineering from Swarthmore College in the U.S.A.

Iman Rehmatullah

Iman Rehmatullah is a freshman at George Mason University studying finance and hopes to attend The Wharton School of Business post graduation in 2018. Iman is an active member in the Pakistan Student Association, and Muslim Student Association organized at George Mason University, and plans on joining the Student Government. Some of her hobbies include playing recreational tennis and performing community service at her mosque, and at elderly homes. Assisting the elderly provides Iman with the satisfaction of giving back to community; more importantly aiding to our older members given they’re the reasons we thrive today. This past summer, Iman worked at RHDC International, which is the largest Consular legalization and Letter of Credit document preparation company in the United States. Within the next three years she plans on gaining experience in the financial industry, in hopes of becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Lee DudkaSenior Adviser, SyTrue

LEE DUDKA is Senior Adviser at SyTrue, a data-driven-healthcare company providing next-gen analytics across the continuum of care. He’s been strategic adviser at pharma and technology companies (BMS, J&J, Pfizer, ABB, Honeywell, CACI) and is a partner in an eyecare drug startup, plus has served as NIH Fellow and taught at Princeton, SUNY and Rutgers.

As business strategist, his global work takes him from board rooms to major campuses. Included: healthcare, technology and medicine -- multi-billion-dollar heart, urology, anti-depressive drugs and the C-level global strategy plans behind them. He’s led teams on IT projects for Fortune 100 companies and major US campuses.

As executive issues coach (C-levels, high-potentials and teams), he’s served F500 and Global 2000 companies at major business units. There he’s led corporate coaching and board strategy retreats (470 sessions with 200+ teams). This includes writing the global product plans and the key speeches of C-level executives (3 in “Vital Speeches,” the publication-of-record for US speeches). This extensive reach now spans work as a communications executive and president, co-leading the Princeton Writing Workshop, and delivering an experimental program for NJ state penitentiary “honors camp” inmates.

Since 2001, he's been developing a research-driven networking model used in over 30 cities (20 countries) -- military, corporate and university sites -- that taps rich project networks to achieve complex and innovative project goals. He’s received many awards, including the annual Alumni Award for Service to Princeton University.

Tom GlendeningCEO, E3think

E3Think uses technology, economics and design to maximize the value of real estate and other urban assets. Example projects: transformation of disused shopping center in London, UK into highly successful niche trade mart; optimization of global facilities portfolio of one of the world's largest manufacturers; and reclamation of prominent Jewish properties in Leipzig once confiscated by the Third Reich. Hundreds of millions of dollars of value created.

E3Think is also behind a number of innovative bike share programs and proposals in the northeast. And in addition to founding Inventropolis, E3Think has co-founded UrbanLabs and UrbanShare.

Tom holds an MBA from Harvard, an MArch from Yale and a BS from Virginia.

Joon ShinEntrepreneur & Board Director for Several Companies

Mr. Shin is a Moore Fellow and an Inc. 500 award winning executive, who possesses continuous intellectual curiosity in the intersections of business, creativity, technology, and digital, with over eighteen years of well-rounded and seasoned leadership of complex initiatives working with many diverse teams across several industries. He is currently a Co-Founder for Content of Characters, Board Member for Dosha Pops, Co-Founder for In The Lights PR, and Advisory Board Member for TriplAgent; consults, mentors, and advises other startups; and has held senior leadership positions that demand: corporate governance, executive management, entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, program management, business transformation, product development, new product / service launches, business development, strategic positioning, technology management and enterprise risk management. His success is largely driven from his passion in understanding internal and external customers’ points of view, lines of businesses, and requirements in support of their goals and needs, which has resulted in millions of dollars of year-over-year realizations of benefits from business and technological innovations. Mr. Shin completed the Executive Master's in Technology Management program, a cosponsored program between Penn Engineering and Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania; and received his Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University.

Jill MelnickiSocial Innovation Consulting

Jill Melnicki is a public relations specialist focused on social good communications and partnerships. She helps people and organizations build credibility, influence public opinion, and solve collective problems. Jill has more than a decade of multi-sector experience promoting and advancing public good initiatives. Most recently, as Public Liaison with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), Government of the District of Columbia, she catalyzed community-driven, creative approaches to open government and digital inclusion and built innovation capacity in the local nonprofit sector. She is known for her trailblazing partnerships and engagement work and her inspirational, lean, inclusive, research-driven approach to problem solving. Outside of work, Jill stays active in her local community through mentorship and pro bono consulting. Jill earned a MPP from the College of William & Mary and is a DC area native, the eighth generation in her family born and raised in the Washington region.

Kim Hall

Kim is the Chief Strategy and Execution Officer of Visionary Leadership, a consulting firm specializing in large-scale change, strategy and Grand Challenges. She built a reputation for implementing transformational organizational change initiatives as president of nonprofit organizations. She draws on that experience to reposition organizations to increase profitability, scale and deliver higher value to their constituents. Kim is a possibility thinker who enjoys solving complex challenges. She has B.A. in Communication, Marketing from the University of Maryland and is certified in organization and project management.

Joyce HunterDeputy Chief Information Officer for Policy and Planning, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Joyce Hunter is the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Policy and Planning for the Department of Agriculture and an appointee in the Obama Administration. Ms. Hunter establishes the policy framework, oversees the Departments strategic technology planning initiatives and lays the track for the future. With over 30 years’ experience in the information technology industry, Ms. Hunter has demonstrated a strong ability to build and sustain relationships with public/private stakeholders, develop and lead innovative projects and inter-agency initiatives. Ms. Hunter previously served as the CEO of Vulcan Enterprises, an IT service and strategic planning consulting organization, where she provided executive advisory services, industry and federal business intelligence, policy evaluation and analysis, business development support, business IT alignment and strategic business consulting. Ms. Hunter earned a BA from Villanova University and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, has a certificate in Emotional Intelligence, is a Wharton Fellow and has been selected by the editors of FedScoop to be included in this year's annual list of "D.C.’s Top 50 Women in Technology”.

She is a people connector who enjoys helping individuals and organizations solve complex online outreach + strategy challenges, and has storytelling experience through various media. Linda has almost a decade of multi-sector experience in varied roles and is known for her love of collaboration, data-driven research and social innovation, working at two top think tanks.

Linda is a third culture kid who grew up in many places globally. She loves volunteering for socially good organizations and is an active member in the DC tech community. She is currently working on launching a think tank data platform.